Store Clerk Fires On Beer Thief, Both Arrested

EL PASO, TX. – Two shots are fired after a man allegedly tried to take a case of beer without paying and the incident lands the store clerk in jail.

42-year-old Raul Ortega is charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Mr. Ortega allegedly pulled out a handgun, and according to El Paso Police Officers, fired at the alleged thief 26-year-old Homero Ortiz.

Mr. Ortiz was arrested for theft Sunday night for allegedly trying to steal an $18 case of beer from the Paisano Beverage Depot in Downtown El Paso.

EPPD Spokesman Javier Sambrano tells ABC-7 that, “the person that committed the theft did not use any force, if he would have used force than actually would have been a very different situation cause then we’d be talking about a robbery…if he would have made a threat to the individual would have been a very different event.”

Because of the shots fired, the charge against the store clerk is a more serious offense than theft, which is what sparked the incident.