Suspect in Placerville Safeway theft used ‘alcohol as a weapon’ as he fled, sheriff says
El Dorado County authorities are looking to identify a suspect who allegedly stole alcohol from a Safeway store in Placerville, then used the alcohol “as a weapon” to strike someone.
Surveillance video from October, posted this week by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, shows a man in a blue hoodie and dark sweatpants entering the supermarket on Missouri Flat Road. He then exits the store moments later with a six-pack-type box of alcohol in each hand, video shows.
A store employee appears to start approaching the man as he exits, and the video ends.
“When someone attempted to stop him while he was fleeing, this man used the alcohol as a weapon to strike them,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The suspect then left the store in a gray car that was waiting for him, driven by a woman, according to the news release.
The man is described as approximately 20 years old, 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, with short black hair.
Anyone with information about the suspect’s identity is urged to contact sheriff’s detectives at 530-642-4716, or send a message to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 9:34 AM.
