SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – A Lemont Furnace man is recovering in the hospital after attempting to shoplift a phone from a local Walmart.

It happened at the Walmart in South Union Township around 6 p.m. on Monday.

Police say 46-year-old David Lee removed a Straight Talk Wireless phone from the shelf using a knife.

They say he later went into the automotive aisle and tried to open the packaging with the same knife.

While trying to open the package, Lee stabbed himself in the arm with the knife.

Lee was bleeding excessively from the wound, and staff noticed this when they approached him. He grabbed a towel off of the shelf and wrapped his arm in it, trying to leave the store.

After leaving the store, police say Lee got into a car and went straight to Uniontown Hospital. His injury was so severe, he had to be flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

Police were able to arrest Lee at the hospital and charge him with retail theft and disorderly conduct.

Lee’s mother says he is addicted to heroin, “I didn’t think he’d ever try that big of a stunt,” said Patty Lee.

A Hazmat crew was called to the Walmart in South Union Township to clean up the blood pools and a blood trail left behind by the suspect.

Patty says David will survive this robbery, but she isn’t sure if he’ll survive the drug addiction.

“I don’t know where he’s going to end up at.”

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