YOUNGSTOWN - A Warren man who police say punched an employee after being caught shoplifting at the Austintown Home Depot has started serving a six-month jail sentence.

Nicholas Lee, who turns 39 this month, was sentenced late last week after pleading guilty earlier to one count of robbery.

Lee was arrested at his Lancer Court home last June just hours after police posted surveillance images on Facebook showing a man in an orange shirt confronting an employee in the lobby of the Home Depot on Mahoning Avenue.

According to a police report, the suspect punched the employee in the head when he tried to prevent the suspect from leaving the store, allegedly without paying for $400 worth of wire.

After a woman told police that she recognized Lee, officers went to his Warren home where they found him sitting at the kitchen table.

When officers told Lee he was being charged with robbery, police say he replied: "How is this a robbery? It should only be assault and theft."

Police say Lee then insisted that he paid for the wire at the store but gave the receipt to a woman who hired him to install the wire.

The police report says officers found an orange shirt and grey hat in the home, like those worn by the robbery suspect.

In addition to the jail sentence, Lee will be on probation for three years.