Michigan Man Sentenced to Up to 50 Years for Using Chemical Device to Create “Gaseous Cloud” During Walmart Theft

FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN – A 39-year-old Michigan man has been sentenced to up to 50 years in prison after admitting he used a chemical-emitting device to create a “gaseous cloud” in a Meijer store to distract employees while stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise.

Chemical Device Created Chlorine-Like Cloud

Authorities said Alexae Kamron Johnson filled a plastic bottle with swimming pool cleaning chemicals, which released a noxious chlorine-smelling gas inside a Meijer store on Harvey Street in Fruitport Township — roughly 35 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.

The Fruitport Township Police Department said officers responded to reports of an “unknown, noxious gas” filling the store’s center aisles. Several shoppers and employees were forced to evacuate.

The Muskegon County Hazardous Materials Response Team later determined the substance to be pool treatment chemicals, and the area had to be cleared before business could resume.

“We watched him load his cart up full of a bunch of electronics,” said Fruitport Deputy Police Chief Greg Poulson. “As soon as that cloud dispersed, he immediately went for the exit of the store and left.”

$2,000 in Merchandise Stolen

Authorities said Johnson managed to escape with between $1,000 and $2,000 worth of electronics and other high-value goods before fleeing the store.

Four people were treated at a nearby hospital for chemical exposure but were later released.

Police arrested Johnson in November 2024, after reviewing surveillance footage and linking him to the chemical device found in the store.

Sentenced to 5–50 Years

Johnson pleaded guilty to two counts of retail fraud by theft, as well as placing an explosive device with intent to alarm and being a habitual offender.

On October 9, 2025, Muskegon County Circuit Court Judge Annette R. Smedley sentenced him to between five and fifty years in prison.

Johnson told the court he had been suffering from a mental health crisis at the time and said he should have sought help. Judge Smedley, however, rejected his plea for leniency, saying his actions “harmed people and endangered the public.”

Officials said the incident was one of the most unusual retail crimes the Fruitport Township department had ever handled. For more community crime and public safety news from across the Midwest, follow ChicagoMusicGuide.com.