SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Employees of a market in Santa Cruz said a customer got so mad he had to pay more for lettuce that he threatened to shoot them.
It's new information on Santa Cruz's top cop being credited for taking down an armed suspect on Thursday morning at New Leaf Community Market.
"He said, ‘Well, what if I just come back with my gun and just blow everybody up?'" said Jadine Foo, cashier for the market.
She said that's how one of her regular customers, Don Lane (not to be mistaken for the former city mayor), reacted when he saw he had to pay $0.50 more for romaine lettuce.
"Apparently the price was a little too high for him and he was very irate and started to cuss a lot, so I figured he was not very happy," she said.
Foo said she was shaken up. She said Lane paid for his bundles of lettuce and green onions, then walked out of the store.
"I waited for him to leave and then I called everyone up to the front and they pursued him outside, flagged down Chief Vogel," she said.
That's when the police chief, who was patrolling the area, spotted Lane at Trader Joe's and arrested him. Lane was fully armed.
Foo said she's relieved, but shocked that something like this could happen in the close-knit community.
"This town is very quiet, very community-oriented, so for something like this to happen, it's very scary," she said.
Foo said the price of romaine lettuce went up from $2.99 to $3.49 because of the drought and frost.
Chief Kevin Vogel could not be reached for comment. He had commitments outside of the office all day.
