By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Hillsboro police are investigating an aggravated assault and theft at Bomgaars that was reported a day after the incident took place.

According to Police Chief Jessey Hiebert, a Bomgaars employee who confronted a shoplifter was threatened with an unknown object in the store parking lot but didn’t contact police until Saturday.

A shopper reportedly put two DeWalt tool kits together valued at $1,900, into a cart at Bomgaars, tried to distract the employee by asking him about other items, and then pushed the cart through the exit doors to the parking lot.

When the 18-year-old employee went to the parking lot to confront the man, the man was putting the tool kits into the trunk of his car.

The suspect held up what the employee described as “an unknown object” and told the employee, “You’d better not.”

“The employee feared for his safety,” Hiebert said.

The employee backed off from further confrontation but did get a partial number on an out-of-county license tag.

There doesn’t appear to be a relationship between the employee and the suspect, Hiebert said.

“We’re following up on video from surveillance cameras at the intersection of Ash St. and Grand Ave.,” Hiebert said.

Police are trying to track the suspect’s movements through town and comparing the known license plate numbers with cars that match the description of the suspect’s cars, Hiebert said.