A man who tried to stop people from shoplifting nearly $900 worth of groceries from a Casper store Tuesday had to jump out of the way when the suspects' car drove at him, according to police.

A store employee followed the car to a Casper home, where officers arrested three people, including one man allegedly found hiding in a pantry.

The incident began just after noon when an employee at an Albertsons grocery store on the corner of CY Avenue and Poplar streets saw people leaving the store with groceries that hadn't been paid for, according to a police affidavit.

A second employee followed the suspects out the door and tried to stop them as they loaded the groceries into a Jeep. Around that time, a man stood in front of the jeep and told the suspects to stop.

Instead, they backed up quickly and crashed into a parked car, the affidavit states. The Jeep then drove forward, forcing the man to jump out of the way.

The second employee followed the suspects to a home on the 900 block of Chestnut Avenue. There, officers met a woman, Sunshine Miller, who admitted to being at Albertsons and stealing the groceries, according to police.

In another police affidavit, an officer said Miller acknowledged going to Albertsons with friends, but said she was unaware that her friends stole anything.

As officers searched the home for another shoplifting suspect, they said they found a different man, Daniel Burch, hiding in a kitchen pantry. Burch tried to escape, but was caught before he got out of the house.

Officers found a syringe, a spoon, numerous cell phones, two digital cameras, dozens of sports cards and collector coins inside a backpack that Burch had, according to police. They later found a woman who said the coin collection and one of the digital cameras had been taken from her home.

Police arrested Miller and Burch, along with a third man, Michael Downing, who is accused of lying to police about his name even though officers knew him from previous contacts.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.