King County prosecutors filed attempted assault charges against a 54-year-old Seattle man last week after he allegedly threatened security guards at Northgate Mall with an "HIV-contaminated" hypodermic needle after they caught him shoplifting.

Court records say on March 14th, security guards at the JC Penney in Northgate watched the man walk out of the store carrying a $60 pair of New Balance shoes hidden under his coat, which he had not paid for.

Security officers stopped the man outside the store and had to "physically restrain [him] to prevent him from fleeing," court records say, "ultimately having to struggle with him to the ground."

As security officers were escorting the man back into the store, he allegedly pulled out a hypodermic needle and told the guards "I'm HIV-positive! I don't want to stab you!"

The guards backed off and called police, and  the man ran towards the Metro Transit Center across the street from Northgate, court records say.

Officers found the man, who was still carrying the syringe, and arrested him.

While jail records indicate man was previously booked into the King County Jail in October 2009, police records say he was not booked into jail after this latest incident due to "obvious health issues."

It's not clear whether the man—who has prior convictions for drugs, assault, and theft, according to court records—was actually wielding an HIV-contaminated needle during the incident.

[Ed. note: while the suspect's name in this case is a matter of public record, I wasn't entirely comfortable making their debilitating medical condition the first thing to come up when you Google their name. These things get tricky sometimes, but if you're all outraged, let me know in the comments and I'll consider arguments for putting it back in.]