Suspect Jailed : Clerk Hit In Robbery Try

A 25-year-old man was booked into Orange County Jail Tuesday after he allegedly smashed a beer bottle over the head of a Garden Grove liquor store clerk, tried to rob the register and fled, only to be quickly apprehended.

Ruben Allen Kaleimamahu, 25, no fixed address, allegedly entered the Casa de Liquor at 8931 Garden Grove Blvd. about 1 p.m. “and ordered three cases of beer,” said Lt. Larry Hodges of the Garden Grove Police Department.

“The clerk went to the cooler to get the beer, and while he was bent over, the suspect hit him on the head with a beer bottle,” Hodges said.

Kaleimamahu then allegedly tried to open the cash register, failed to do so and fled the store, Hodges said. A passer-by chased the suspect into a residential area, Hodges said.

Police who were already nearby arrived at the scene within moments, and the passer-by, whose name was not released, helped direct officers toward the suspect, Hodges said.

Robbery Investigator Leroy Vaughan, who “happened to be out in the area,” apprehended Kaleimamahu, Hodges said. Kaleimamahu was booked on suspicion of attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Owen Brooks, 60, the sales clerk, was taken to UCI Medical Center where he was treated and released, Hodges said.

“The biggest injury was a big bump on his head,” Hodges said.