HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - Surveillance video from a Hollywood gas station showed a man trashing the store and punching the store’s clerk.
Hollywood Police said two men walked into the Chevron gas station along Sheridan Street near Interstate 95, at around 9:45 p.m., last Thursday.
Lawrence Marable, the clerk, told police he believed the duo was already drunk, so he refused to sell them cigarettes.
“They started calling me all kind of profanity names, telling me about my mother this and your daddy this,” Marable said.
The surveillance footage showed one of the men trashing the store after being denied service.
A short time later, the larger of the two men went back to the car.
Marable then attempted to get the man’s license plate number but noticed there was a temporary tag on the vehicle.
“And then I couldn’t read his tag number because it had a temporary tag, so I went to the door to read his tag number,” Marable said.
The video then showed one of the men return to the store and began punching the clerk with one hand while holding an unknown can in the other.
“He jumped back out of the truck and came back inside,” Marable said.
After coming back inside and swinging at Marable, the man continued to take his rage out on the store’s merchandise instead. He could be seen in the video toppling the Red Bull cooler, knocking over boxes of fruit and hurling an oven filled with hot food.
“The profanity he was saying made me angry, and second of all, I felt that he was invading my privacy and my rights,” Marable said. “I thought they were crazy.”
Some customers watching the video were surprised, while others said they were not “because we see it all the time.”
“Jesus! That’s horrendous,” a customer said.
“Oh! Oh, my! What is wrong with this bruh? This is not nice to do,” another customer said. “I hope they catch this guy.”
Investigators said the men were traveling in a newer-model, silver Ford F-150 pickup truck.
In addition to the temporary tag, there was a sign on the passenger door that read, “Sonia’s Roofing,” that began with the phone number “786.”
If you have any information on this incident, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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