Hit and run follows alcohol theft

IRVINE – A man exiting a Ralphs grocery store Saturday carrying $350 worth of liquor he hadn’t paid for assaulted two employees as they tried to prevent him from driving away, reports The Orange County Register.

Sheddrick Shondell Nick, 39, of Corona, was arrested at a nearby apartment complex where police believe he was visiting a friend. The stolen booze – which included vodka, whiskey and champagne – was found hidden under clothes in a laundry hamper at the friend’s apartment.

The incident unfolded when Nick was observed leaving the store about 2 p.m. and the two Ralphs employees, one female and one male, requested to see his receipt. Nick ignored the two, instead getting into a car to make his escape.

The female employee pushed a shopping cart in front of the vehicle in an attempt to block it, but Nick slammed through the cart, shoving it into the woman’s stomach.

The male employee was then struck in the chest by the car’s side mirror as Nick accelerated past him.

Witness descriptions of the vehicle and a license plate number helped police locate the car at the apartment complex where Nick and the booze were also found. Police believe the suspect vehicle that Nick used to go to the store belongs to the friend he was visiting.

Nick was taken into custody and faces charges of robbery, shoplifting, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.