WAYNESBORO, VA (Rocktown Now) — Waynesboro Police have arrested two men for an alleged theft and assault.

WPD says on Monday, May 26, officers responded to a reported theft and assault at Tractor Supply Co., located at 301 Lew Dewitt Blvd. A male suspect, later identified as 37-year-old Joshua Lee Talley from Staunton, allegedly bypassed the registers with a cart full of merchandise. When confronted in the parking lot by a store employee, Talley reportedly pepper-sprayed the employee in the face, causing injury, before fleeing the scene in a gray Chevrolet Impala reportedly driven by Andrew Clay Ottinger, a 37-year-old male from Waynesboro.

The following day, May 27, Waynesboro Police Officers went to a residence in the 500 block of Bluff Avenue in Waynesboro to locate Talley and Ottinger on the outstanding warrants that were issued from a magistrate stemming from the previous day’s event. Ottinger was arrested without incident. Officers searched the residence and found Talley hiding inside. He resisted arrest and engaged in a physical altercation with the officers but was ultimately taken into custody.

Both Talley and Ottinger are being held at the Middle River Regional Jail without bond on the following charges:

Joshua Talley
§ 18.2-57C- (F): Assault & Battery- Police Officer or Firefighter
§ 18.2-460B- (M): Obstructing Justice by Force
§ 18.2-312- (F): Illegal Use of Gases
§ 18.2-58- (F): Robbery

Andrew Ottinger
§18.2-18/ §18.2-58- (F) Accessory to Robbery