Saks employees aren't going to let go of a scarf shoplifter just because he reaches for his knife

A Cambridge man was arraigned on armed-robbery charges yesterday after he and a pal tried fleeing Saks Fifth Avenue on Boylston Street with a number of scarves and two handbags, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

According to the DA's office, a store employee spotted Abdelouahab Adel, 23, and the other man "walking through Saks Fifth Avenue holding multiple multicolored scarves" before they stopped at a handbag display, lifted two of the bags and then walked out, around 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Two other store employees confronted the men outside the store [on Ring Road], causing one to drop the stolen items and flee toward Huntington Avenue. The second man, later identified as Adel, was uncooperative and tried to fight with employees. The employees observed Adel reach into his pocket and remove a shiny object, which they believed to be a knife. The employees detained Adel until police arrived.

Adel was unresponsive to officer’s questions. After a medical evaluation by EMS, Adel was placed under arrest. The second individual has not been arrested.

The DA's office says the object was, in fact, "a black knife with a two-inch blade," good enough to add a charge of armed robbery to a charge of larceny over $1,200.

The $3218.50 in scarves and handbags were returned to the store, the DA's office reports.

A Boston Municipal Court judge set bail for Adel - who also faces a shoplifting charge in Waltham - at $750 and ordered him to stay out of Saks while his case is pending.

Innocent, etc.