VIDEO: Liquor store robber throws bottles at clerk

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. - Authorities are searching for a man who was caught on surveillance video attacking a liquor store clerk before stealing booze and and cigarettes and fleeing, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said Thursday, reports CBS San Francisco.

The unidentified man walked into a San Jose liquor store around 7:30 pm on Monday, June 16, picked up a case of beer and went to the counter as if to pay for it, sheriff's Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup said, according to the station.

The suspect then asked how much a bottle of liquor cost and after the clerk turned to look up the price, the suspect went behind the counter and grabbed cigarettes and liquor bottles, as shown in a surveillance video posted by the sheriff's office.

When the clerk confronted the man, the suspect grabbed a bottle and raised it above his head to threaten the victim, according to the sheriff's office.

The suspect is then seen on the video throwing bottles at the clerk, striking him several times, and as the clerk tried to defend himself, the suspect is seen punching him repeatedly.

After another customer came into the store and tried to stop the attack, the suspect fled with his haul of drink and smokes and drove away in a white car, Stenderup said.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic man about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 160 to 180 pounds, with black curly hair in a ponytail and a mustache, and was wearing a backwards cap with "SF" written on it and a black T-shirt that said "CALI LIFE" on the front.

Sheriff's officials have released photos and video of the suspect and are asking for the public's help in identifying him.

Anyone with information about the suspect is urged to contact Detective Sgt. Brown with the sheriff's office at (408) 808-4431.