Alleged Tequila Heist Goes Sour; 2 Jailed
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A man and his alleged accomplice were in the Ventura County Jail on Friday awaiting charges that he stole tequila from a Vons Market in Thousand Oaks and then, when clerks tried to stop him, stole a car to make a getaway.
Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrested Salvador Mercado, 24, of Thousand Oaks and Michael Dorsey, 27, a transient, on Thursday.
Mercado allegedly stole the liquor from the Vons Market at 1790 North Moorpark Road about 4 p.m. Thursday, said Capt. William Montijo, who heads up the major crimes division for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department east county police services division.
A clerk tried to stop him, but Mercado slugged him in the face and ran, police said. And on his way out of the store, he hit another man in the face, according to investigators. Confronted outside by other employees, Mercado broke one of the bottles and threatened to cut anyone who came near him, Montijo said.
He escaped and authorities said he stole a car on the 1700 block of Wellesley Drive. He was picked up by deputies near the stolen car at a gas station near Chesebro Road and the Ventura Freeway.
Dorsey was arrested at the Vons Market parking lot where he was allegedly waiting to drive a getaway car, Montijo said.
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