Felony Charges for Man Over Stolen Six-Pack of Beer, Brawl at Missoula Store
Missoula Police arrested a Billings man after reports on Saturday that he tried to steal a six-pack of beer from a Missoula department store. According to police public Information Officer Travis Welsh, the suspect didn’t get far.
"About 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, officers responded to a department store in the 2400 block of North Reserve Street where it was reported that a shoplifter was fighting with a loss prevention employee. When the officers arrived, they took the man into custody, he was identified as 41 year old Anthony Gonzalez."
Before police arrived though, it appears there was a bit of a brawl between Mr. Gonzalez and some shoppers who came over to help the loss prevention employee recover the stolen beer. Some shoppers reported cuts, bruises and other minor injuries.
"When confronted by loss-prevention, he physically fought with them in order to get away," Welsh said. "It sounds like there were some physical blows thrown at the loss prevention officer. There's also an allegation that Mr. Gonzalez pushed a shopping cart into one of the employees to try to get away. The loss-prevention officer had requested help from some of his coworkers who were able to hold Mr. Gonzalez down until officers arrived."
Gonzalez is not facing an assault with a weapon charge for the shopping cart attack, but is facing a felony robbery charge over the incident.