Cops: Winter Garden officer hurt in struggle with 300-pound lingerie thief

Man accused of stealing from Victoria's Secret

Alergon Baker, left, and Chris Lema, right.

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – A Winter Garden police officer was injured Tuesday while attempting to subdue a 300-pound man suspected of stealing hundreds of dollars' worth of merchandise from Victoria's Secret, Winter Garden police said.

Officer Jose Rivera responded to the lingerie store around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a man, Algernon Baker, and a woman, Chris Lema, shoplifting together at several stores in Winter Garden Village.

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Rivera attempted to stop Baker as he was putting stolen Victoria's Secret merchandise into Lema's car, according to the report. Baker resisted and a struggle ensued between him and the officer, police said.

The struggle made it difficult for Rivera to call for backup and other officers could hear broken-up radio transmissions. An officer who responded to Rivera's request for help saw Rivera attempting to subdue the 5-foot-6, 300-pound man.

It took three officers to handcuff Baker, police said.

Rivera suffered injuries to both of his knees and a bite mark on his thumb as a result of the violent arrest, according to the affidavit.

Officials found $768 worth of stolen merchandise from Victoria's Secret in the suspects' car, the report said.

Baker and Lema are charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, third-degree grand theft and resisting an officer without violence.