WATCH: Video of Tennessee man taking two bags of chips dropped by store thief surfaces online following arrest

Tennessee man Joseph Braswell was arrested earlier this month after he ate two bags of chips that were dropped by a store thief while stealing an entire display of potato chips.

As per Fox News, on February 9, 2023, a thief allegedly got into an argument with a store clerk at a Circle K grocery store in Tennessee after she refused to sell him a beer. The peeved customer then retaliated against the store by stealing an entire display case of potato chips that held at least a hundred bags in it.

A surveillance video captured the alleged thief then leaving the store with the display case and shoving it inside his car parked outside the store. The footage showed the thief dragging the case behind him as a couple of bags fell off before he shoved it inside the backseat of the car.

The video also captured Joseph Braswell picking up a couple of packets strewn on the ground.

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Tennessee man charged with theft of merchandise for eating a stolen bag of chips

Joseph Braswell, 36, was charged with theft of merchandise after authorities caught him with crumbs on his clothing after eating the stolen chips he had picked off the ground.

Authorities who responded to the scene after a thief stole an entire display case of potato chips reportedly found Braswell standing across the store. They decided to arrest Braswell after reviewing the footage that showed him taking two bags of chips worth less than $10. Moreover, the police stated that Braswell was aware that the bags were stolen, as the video showed him bearing witness to the theft before picking up the chips packets from the ground.

As per the New York Post, Braswell spent several days in prison for a petty incident after he was arrested and booked into the Tennessee prison. Braswell has since been released and will reportedly face charges in court.

Meanwhile, Braswell’s mother spoke to WREG about her son's arrest, which she deemed unnecessary given the triviality of the crime. The Tennessee man’s mother told the outlet that her son suffers from mental health issues, and she has tried multiple times to get him some help to no avail:

“I called the crisis centre, I called the police department. I try to get him assessed and every time he goes downtown for something like this, they never assess him.”

Meanwhile, the Circle K grocery store manager, Melanie Jackson, told the outlet that this was not an isolated incident. Jackson further added that the stores around the area have earlier been robbed on multiple occasions:

“People come in here on a daily basis stealing, they think that is okay. My inventory is 17,000 short of people coming in here stealing.”

As of this writing, it is unknown if authorities arrested the perpetrator who robbed the display case of chips.