This Beer Can Brawler Sought In OC

SANTA ANA, CA — A liquor store customer hurled beer and several other items at a clerk last month after he was carded for the booze.

The incident happened about 11:25 p.m. on Nov. 25 at Craig Liquor, 1200 W. MacArthur Blvd., Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

A surveillance video posted by police on YouTube shows the suspect at the counter attempting to buy a can of beer. When the clerk asked for a photo identification the customer insisted he was of age, telling the clerk is birthday was Aug. 18, 1987.

Then he asked for cigarettes as he walked to the back of the store where the freezers are and looked for Corona beer in a 12-pack. The clerk and customer got into a touchy exchange as the suspect looked for the beer in a 12- pack while the clerk directed him to a freezer where the beer was assembled in bottles.

The two finally figured out where the 12-packs were located and returned to the counter, where the suspect appeared to indicate everything was OK between them.

"Some people like them in the bottles, but I like them in the cans," he told the clerk.

After the clerk rang up the sale and requested about $27, the suspect suddenly lunged for the 12-pack as if to steal it.

As they struggled over the 12-pack, which tumbled to the floor, the suspect picked up the fallen cans and hurled some of them at the clerk and various other parts of the store. That prompted the clerk to start hurling some of the beer cans at the suspect, who ran out of the store.

The suspect was described as a Latino man about 35 years old who is 5- feet-11 and weighs about 200 pounds. He has tattoos on both sides of his neck and on his right outer calf, according to Bertagna.

Anyone with information was asked to call investigator L. Delisle at (714) 245-8647. Orange County Crime Stoppers will accept anonymous tips at (855) TIP-OCCS.

Santa Ana Police Department Youtube photo