Video shows off-duty officer pulling gun on man mistakenly suspected of stealing Mentos

[IronLionZion]

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/04/video-shows-off-duty-officer-pulling-gun-on-man-mistakenly-suspected-of-stealing-mentos/

One minute, Jose Arreola was buying a pack of Mentos at an Orange County service station.

The next minute, he was at the business end of a gun drawn by an off-duty Buena Park police officer who thought Arreola had stolen the $1.19 roll of mints.

The 49-year-old printer from Bellflower says he was both scared and angry that the officer had pulled a gun March 16 on someone he wrongly suspected of stealing candy.

“It’s been a month and I still can’t shake it,” Arreola said. “It was traumatic, the whole incident. (And) I grew up in Santa Ana. I’ve been shot at before.”

Buena Park Sgt. Mike Lovchik declined to comment on the incident, saying an internal investigation is underway.

Candy can kill you. Yes DUers, minorities can be racist to each other.

[True Dough]

1. De Mentos!

Demented behavior!

[DemocracyMouse]

11. I was held up at gunpoint in Brooklyn once...

and yet I felt safer than I did when I was arrested by a Manhattan cop (for putting up a poster about democracy), or invaded by 3 cops in Boston when my performance party ruffled the feathers of a neighbor, or when 7 cops surrounded me after I peeled a "Bush for President" sticker off a car... If I were African American I may not be alive today. (And not due to the holdup).

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. This chit has gotten so out of control. nt

[Akacia]

3. Whoah!

That cop has a major issue and needs to be gone!

[Demovictory9]

22. "Get your change and go" - so the cop knew he paid for SOMETHING

what other item, but the mentos, did he see in the customer's hands

[paleotn]

4. Cops....

at least where I'm familiar with, many are bullies, power junkies, former jocks and other ne're-do-wells, who aren't successful doing anything else. The pay is beyond crap. The hours are horrible. Working conditions stink. But hey! You get to point a gun at people and occasionally shoot them.

[PatSeg]

5. If this is the way

the cop acts off duty, just imagine what he is like when he is on duty. For some police, everyone is a criminal.

[Demovictory9]

18. agreed

[ejbr]

6. That's how it's done

Make an ass of yourself first, ask questions later

[dalton99a]

7. Sue - and don't settle for $1 either.

[Moostache]

8. The thin blue line MUST be ended...

Good officers OWE the public the dignity of the profession by running these power junkies out of the force at all levels. That shit head should NEVER again be on duty as anything but a weekend night security guard who gets to carry keys and a swipe card but no weapons...

Officers of integrity, stand up and denounce this kind of barbarism.

[Brother Buzz]

9. I'm surprised he wasn't frisked, too

There could have been a quart of soda shoved down his pants.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Hope Jose has a lawsuit filed.

[Demovictory9]

21. he has lawyer and is asking for monetary compensation

[rock]

12. What an ass-hole, shit-pile, turd-fest

His mama must be very proud.

[ooky]

13. And this head case is still employed as a police offcer?

You don't pull guns over candy. He needs to lose his job and his guns, he's dangerous.

[FailureToCommunicate]

14. WTF. Storekeeper says nothing?? Let's the racist cop force the guy to return his purchase?

PLUS, off duty cop has his gun just loose in his jacket pocket which he struggles several moments to remove ?!?

Glad it turned out sorta okay for Mr Arreola.

Thank goodness for security cams.


(Also, not sure what you mean by your odd comment that DUers might not know minorities can be racist?)

[IronLionZion]

16. I'm a minority

and many white liberals won't know this but I get way more racism from other minorities than whites. It's insane.

I'm American and most sensible Americans understand that, but immigrants always tell me I'm an immigrant who has gotten too uppity and forgot my place in society.

[Demovictory9]

19. i noticed that also. store keeper said nothing while client was at business end of gun

[Demovictory9]

23. and the cop chambers a round, gets it ready for live action! OMG

[MrScorpio]

27. Cops come in only one color, blue...

They all serve an organ of American systematic racism, regardless of whether they're white or not.

[JI7]

28. that made me angry also. the fucking asshole cop and the clerk not saying anything

[UCmeNdc]

15. This whole scene is strange.

Why didn't the clerk just say to the cop the man paid for it. Maybe, the clerk was a little afraid of the gun too?
Plus what is up with the other customer leaning on the counter while Jose was paying? It looked like he was trying to do something. Strange scene.

[Bucky]

33. Yes, clerks should be trained to remain cool and reasonable

When angry impulsive people are waving guns around inside their stores

[Demovictory9]

17. wow. so arrogant. "take your money and go". wow.

"said the Buena Park officer was “way out of policy, even for Orange County.”"

[Demovictory9]

20. the cop is getting a online beating in WP comments

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/05/06/an-off-duty-police-officer-thought-a-man-stole-mentos-so-he-drew-his-gun/?utm_term=.683e2cd7dbc3

When someone right in front of you at the register is getting handed change by the clerk at the register it's a pretty safe bet he just bought what he took off the counter RIGHT IN FRONT of the same clerk. Not to mention if that someone was stealing you the cop don't order him to take his change for his purchase and leave without his purchase and it doesn't take asking the clerk twice if the someone bought what he just got change for the purchase of.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

24. Yeehaw

Sorry your dick is so small Officer Arreola.

[JI7]

29. Arreola is the Customer's name. not the officer

[Bucky]

32. Thank you! People with small dicks do not buy Mentos

According to the commercials, it's solely purchased by lovable social upstarts

[Dave Starsky]

25. That almost sounds like something from a Mentos ad.

Remember those Mentos ads from the '80s and '90s where there would be some goofy misunderstanding or problem, then someone would pop a Mento, and at the end everyone had it all worked out and were laughing about it?

Then some dude with a thick European accent would say,
"Mentos: The Fresh Maker!"

[rockfordfile]

26. He should be fired. Certainly not Policeman.

[JI7]

30. he needs to be fired

[Bucky]

31. This is the exact opposite of the reaction Mentos commercials promised from the cops

Mentos are supposed to win you the grudging admiration of law enforcement officials, smiling while they tsk-tsk your audacious antics as you win over some Euro-chic girl's attention or slip past a rope line to get into some celebrity soiree.

I suppose this poor man will end up suing that cop for the unjustified treatment. But isn't really Mentos to blame for all this?