People v. Huynh CA4/3

FACTS

Appellant Son Thanh Huynh entered a Costa Mesa grocery store on an electric shopping scooter with a backpack in his lap. After filling the pack with wine and liquor, he left the store without paying for the items. Having witnessed the theft, store manager David Rodriguez followed appellant outside and confronted him. When appellant failed to produce a receipt for the alcohol, Rodriguez reached for the backpack, which was still in appellant’s lap. However, appellant bit Rodriguez’s hand, so Rodriguez pulled his hand away, pushed appellant’s head, and stepped back. As he did, the backpack fell to the ground, breaking some of the bottles. At that point, appellant threw himself to the ground and began flopping around like a fish. Then he got up and started to hobble away. But Rodriguez and several of his coworkers corralled him until the police arrived and took him into custody. A search of the backpack revealed 15 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of whiskey. At the scene, the police also found a bag full of toothpaste and other sundry items appellant had stolen from the store. When interviewed by the police, appellant said he took the merchandise because he was hungry.

2 As a…