Barnes was interviewed Monday by local news stations, including 16 WAPT News. News Director Ben Hart said 16 WAPT News did not broadcast the interview because of concerns that Barnes' story wasn’t factual.
"When the officer wreck happened, we made a call to refrain from using that man’s description at the scene. According to police reports and other witnesses, it was a totally different account of what happened," Hart said. "We did use several other witnesses along with descriptions from the chief of police and head of security at JSU."
Jackson police could not immediately say where the alleged shoplifting took place, but Barnes resembles a suspect in a surveillance photo posted to Instagram five weeks ago by Chane, the owner of Swell-O-Phonic in Fondren.
