A serial shoplifter accused of committing nine thefts since November was arrested Thursday afternoon in southwest Atlanta, police said.

Shamuel Clay is accused of stealing from cars and businesses along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. John Chafee said.

The 39-year-old has a lengthy rap sheet dating to 2014 and recently served time in prison for shoplifting convictions in Fulton County, Georgia Department of Corrections records show.

According to police, Clay was involved in nine separate thefts since his release last November.

He was arrested about 3 p.m. after officers spotted him near the intersection of MLK and Peyton Road, Chafee said. When Clay saw the officers, he ran into a wooded area and hid behind a home on Burton Road, authorities said.

Police found the man and discovered a stolen credit card that was taken during a vehicle break-in last August, Chafee said.

Clay is charged with six counts of shoplifting, three counts of burglary and one count each of simple assault and theft by taking, according to police.

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