THOMASVILLE — With a vehicle tag number to work with, suspected teen shoplifters were nabbed and the stolen loot recovered quickly.

Law enforcement officers learned the tag number was registered to a blue 2007 Chevrolet HHR that fled from Walmart. A Thomas County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped the car on East Jackson Street and detained the driver and passenger in a store parking lot.

The driver, Austin Keith Sarver, and the front seat passenger, Johnathan Kayle Wood, “appeared very nervous,” a Thomasville Police Department incident report stated.

A TPD officer saw a large quantity of non-bagged grocery and clothing items on the car’s back seat. The report states both men admitted leaving Walmart recently, and neither could produce a receipt for the merchandise.

Th food and clothing, valued at $120, was returned to Walmart.

Sarver, 17, 5525 Hall Road, and Wood,19, 214 Wolfe St., are charged with shoplifting.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820