Stanton Clerk Shoots Teen in Beer Theft Case

A gas station store clerk shot and wounded a fleeing 17-year-old Long Beach boy after the youth and a friend tried to steal beer from the Mobil station minimarket late Friday, sheriff’s officials said.

Investigators interviewed and released the 28-year-old clerk and said the case would be forwarded to the district attorney’s office once the investigation is completed. It was unclear Saturday, however, whether sheriff’s officials would recommend any charges against the clerk, whose name they declined to release.

The teen and an accomplice entered the minimarket, in the 8200 block of Garden Grove Boulevard, about 11:30 p.m. Friday, grabbed two six-packs of beer each and tried to leave without paying, Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.

When the store clerk confronted them, one of the two youths brandished a handgun as the pair fled, the clerk told sheriff’s investigators. The clerk then grabbed a handgun from behind the counter and fired, striking the 17-year-old in the back.

The shooting victim collapsed in the parking lot of a neighboring strip mall, about 50 feet from the minimarket door. He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital. A hospital spokesman said the 17-year-old was in serious condition Saturday.

His accomplice--described as 19 or 20, 5-foot-10 and wearing dark clothing--fled and still hasn’t been caught, officials said.

Neighboring merchants said the gas station store and a liquor store in the strip mall have been plagued in recent by beer thefts and other petty crime perpetrated mostly by youths. But they had grave reservations about the clerk’s use of deadly force.

“Hit for a 12-pack of beer. That’s too bad,” said Hong Kim, 58, manager of Mara’s Liquor Mart next door to the shooting scene. “It’s a problem. He shot him in the rear, not the front. That’s a problem.”

Kim, who says he does not keep a gun at the store, nevertheless complained of a rash of beer thefts in recent years. Several times, he has run to capture fleeing thieves and not reported the incidents to police, he said.

He heard a shot shortly before midnight and looked outside to see seven police cars surrounding the neighboring business, he said.

Kim said he had heard that the youths attempting to steal beer next door had stolen from the minimarket before and were known to the clerk.

Tom Nguyen, who manages 20th Century Video in the same strip mall, said the neighborhood is plagued by serious crime, but customers often bicker with him and someone once stole videos and fled.

Nguyen said he felt it wouldn’t be right to prosecute the clerk, but he nevertheless said the shooting was unfortunate.

“Sometimes, American law, I just don’t understand it,” he mused. “Sometimes it protects the criminals.”