Man Says He Sold Stolen Red Bull for Gas Money to Find Job: Police

A man arrested for stealing Red Bull from a gas station told police he sold the stolen energy drinks for gas money so he could get to a temporary employment agency to find work.

Melvin Harris, 53 of the 200 block of South 17th Avenue in Maywood, was arrested Nov. 19 and charged with felony retail theft, according to Riverside police.

Officers were called at 7:44 a.m. Nov. 18 to a gas station in the 3300 block of South Harlem Avenue for reports of a retail theft.

The caller said a man came in the store and bought lottery tickets, then went to the back of the store and put 23 cans of Red Bull in his jacket. The caller said the man fled to a waiting car in the parking lot, and the car went westbound on East Quincy Street from Harlem Avenue, police reported. Part of a license plate number and a description of the car were given to police.

Surveillance video from the store led police to the full license plate number, listed to an address in the 700 block of South 6th Avenue in Maywood.

Police watched the home Nov. 19 and stopped a car, matching the description, at 7 a.m. after it left from the house. Police arrested Harris, who was a passenger in the car.

Harris was identified as the thief by a witness and from the surveillance video, and he acknowledged his role in the theft, police reported. He then told investigators a “bizarre sequence of events.”

Harris told police he was on his way to Summit to a temporary employment agency to find work, and along the way, he stopped at the gas station and stole the Red Bull, valued at $63, police reported.

He and the driver went south on Harlem to Summit, where they stopped on the street to sell the Red Bull. Harris drove to Chicago and used the money from selling the Red Bull to buy gas for his car. He then went back to Summit to a temporary day labor site, but he was denied work because he was late.

The charge for the Red Bull theft was upgraded to a felony because Harris has a criminal background that includes 48 prior arrests or convictions.

According to police, these include 43 for theft, two for damage to property, one for gambling, five for obstruction of justice, two for dangerous drugs and two for traffic offenses, one invasion-of-privacy arrest, three weapons charges and two assault arrests.

Harris has been in and out of the prison system over the past 15 years. He also has several alias names, four alias dates of birth and two false social security numbers, police reported. He appeared in bond court Nov. 20, and his bond was set at no bond.

The driver of the car was not charged because he didn’t participate in the theft.

Photo courtesy of Riverside police.