Vidalia — A Vidalia man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly attempting to rob a woman at knifepoint and leading police on a chase.

Michael Lynn Herron, 49, 224 Sage Road, reportedly put a knife to a customer’s throat in the Carter Street Dollar General Wednesday while demanding her purse, said Joey Merrill, Vidalia police chief.

After getting spooked, Merrill said the man pushed the customer to the ground and fled the scene.

A Dollar General manager called the police and identified the man as wearing a red-checkered shirt.

Herron reportedly crossed through a wooded area before reappearing on Louisiana 3180, where officers identified him and gave chase.

“He ran,” Merrill said. “We chased him through a wooded area, through a creek, and over a fence … before he jumped into a pond.”

Merrill said officers were able to talk the man into coming back to the shore, where he was arrested without further incident.

Officers arrested Herron and charged him with armed robbery, theft of goods and two charges of resisting an officer. Herron also had a bench warrant for failure to appear on file.

Herron, police said, stole a soft drink and a pair of gloves from the Dollar General, accounting for his theft charge.

Herron was being held in the Concordia Parish Jail Thursday evening on a bond of $55,000.