FRAZIER PARK, Calif. (Friday, March 27, 9:15 p.m.)—Three teenagers were stopped from stealing hard liquor at Mountain View Market in Lake of the Woods, Friday night at 7:45 p.m., according to the market’s owner Ray Akari.

Akari says three teens entered his store at the corner of Lockwood Valley Road and Cuddy Valley Road, two of them trying to distract him while a third wandered to the middle of the store near a rackfull of liquor.

When Akari went and asked the young man what he had up in his sweatshirt and the boy said, "nothing." Akari says he grabbed the young man and pulled a fifth of Captain Morgan’s rum from his sweatshirt, then dragged him back to the counter at the front of the store and picked up the phone, dialing 911.

As he informed the 911 operator that, "I have thieves here trying to steal stuff from me and I need some help," Akari says the young man began fighting, causing him to drop the phone. While Akari was holding him down on the ground, the young man’s friend began pushing Akari, trying to get his friend free to run.

Holding a plastic bag of ice water against his head, Akari described how the young man’s friend had punched him in the left side of his head.

Two sheriff’s units and a CHP unit were disptached as the struggle continued, based on the 911 system’s automatic address identification capability.

Akari says he dragged the young man out from behind the store counter, into the aisle, while the boy’s friend continued trying to drag Akari away. Eventually, the two young men made it to the front door of the store and ran off toward the bar across the street as customer Tom Roberts, of Lake of the Woods, was approaching the store. The third boy, Akari says, "took off in a vehicle."

Akari and Roberts got into Roberts’ Toyota pickup truck and gave chase, catching up with the thieves in front of Antioch Nursery. They jumped out and grabbed the boys, who were then walking. Richard Sheffield of Antioch Nursery dialed 911 with an update on their location.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived within a minute after that, according to Akari, and took the youths into custody.

Akari said he believes the three are students at the high school. He said the parents of the two boys visited him at his store just after they were apprehended.

It is not known at this time whether the third young man, who drove away, has been taken into custody.

This is part of the March 27, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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