Store owner goes all ‘Clint Eastwood’ on would-be beer thief

An opportunistic byproduct of big city life after a major storm like Hurricane Irma: Looters.

South Florida police departments, for instance, grappled with the problem and have made dozens of arrests after burglars used the storm to help themselves to laptops, shoes, clothes and other property at places like the Shops at Midtown Miami, Hialeah Gardens, Little River and Fort Lauderdale.

On Wednesday, one Cocoa store owner in Brevard County went all Clint Eastwood on a would-be beer thief, WESH 2 News reported.

Chevron Food Mart store owner Sowann Suy, who felt threatened that he was about to be beaten up, told the station he chased off the thief at gunpoint and forced the man, who had beer in each pocket, to give back the stolen brew.

More: Burglars use Irma as excuse to loot stores

Some of Suy’s pals have dubbed him Clint Eastwood after the actor who made his Dirty Harry film character a symbolic figure in the tough-on-crime annals. No word on whether Suy uttered Harry’s famed catchphrase, “Go ahead. Make my day.” But he’s used his gun five times since 2009 to defend his store and himself, WESH 2 News reports.

“He’s a wonderful family guy. And why people come over here doing this to him, I have no clue,” pal Harold Davis told the station.

“I told him to give my beer back, and he ignored it. I pointed a gun at him, and he gave me my beer back, and I shot one bullet in the air,” Suy told the station. “People are lazy; don’t want to work. They want easy stuff. That’s not right. You live in the United States, should be everybody has to work hard for it; earn your own money.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Store owner goes all ‘Clint Eastwood’ on would-be beer thief."