Apparently "Bieber Fever" can drive a person to steal a life-sized cutout of the pint-sized pop singer from a Manatee County mall.
According to a police report from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, 23-year-old David Dowling and a friend took the cutout from an FYE store at the Desoto Square Mall in Bradenton on Saturday, making "no attempt to purchase the item."
Dowling and his buddy ran across the mall, through Sears -- and were caught on what is probably some hilarious surveillance-camera footage -- and were finally caught by the assistant manager of the FYE store, who had been chasing them the whole way, police say.
According to the police report, which was first obtained by the Smoking Gun, Dowling and his pal ditched the cardboard Bieber after being caught by the assistant manager but then went on the run again -- before being caught by mall security hiding in some bushes outside.
The assistant manager told police that Dowling had ripped a label off the cardboard Bieber -- which cost $34.99 -- effectively "destroying" the merchandise.
Dowling tried to tell police his name was "David Michael Tan" and that he was 17 years old, until he was arrested and the cops found his Florida ID, according to the report.
Dowling faces a misdemeanor charge of petty theft and was being held on $120 bond, according to the sheriff's office.
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