OXNARD : Man Fatally Injured While Stealing Beer

An Oxnard man who was hit by a suspected drunken driver as he bolted from a liquor store clutching a stolen 12-pack of beer died Thursday afternoon, police said.

Marcos Solares, 30, was struck by a car driven by Christen Landon Samuel, 21, of Oxnard in the 900 block of Wooley Road about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Solares had darted from between two parked cars into the path of Samuel’s car, Officer Don Mulville said.

Solares suffered numerous internal injuries and broken bones. He was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, where he died Thursday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Samuel was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving. Field sobriety tests indicated he had a blood-alcohol level over .08%, but the results of a blood sample will not be available for several days, Mulville said.

However, Samuel’s blood-alcohol level is not considered a factor in the accident, Mulville said. Investigators said Samuel was driving about 40 m.p.h. at the time of impact and could not have avoided hitting Solares.

“Nothing was going to keep that accident from occurring,” Mulville said.

Before he was hit, police said, Solares had entered Wooley Road Liquors and told a clerk he wanted to buy several cases of beer. When the clerk walked toward the back of the store to get the beer, Solares allegedly grabbed a 12-pack and ran out the door and into the path of Samuel’s car.