Man Locked in Convenience Store Beer Cooler Stays and Drinks

A man was locked inside a convenience store’s beer cooler and had several drinks before fleeing hours later.

Jeremy Van Ert, 38, was charged with retail theft and is behind bars on a probation hold, WBAY-TV reported. Van Ert went inside the Marshfield, Wisconsin, Kwik Trip on Central Avenue on Tuesday, Oct .24, before midnight.

The man was automatically locked inside when midnight struck, officials said.

“The subject found himself locked in the beer cooler, knew that Kwik Trip would not sell him any beer, so he decided to remain in the beer cooler,” Marshfield Police Chief Rick Gramza told WBAY.

“A customer came by the beer cooler at about 6 a.m. and saw him inside,” he said.

The cooler has a glass door and if he knocked, employees would have heard him and allowed him out, the Wausau Daily Herald reported.

When he was out, he didn’t pay for the alcohol he had consumed.

Van Ert reportedly consumed an 18-ounce bottle of Icehouse Beer and three cans of Four Loko, the police report said.

He also fell on top of a stack of Busch Light Cans.

“This is unique, I’ve been here twenty years. I’ve heard of people being locked inside of buildings, never inside of a beer cooler,” Gramza said.

He fled the scene and was arrested by police.

Van Ert is being held in the Wood County Jail on probation hold due to an unrelated case.

His probation required him to be sober.

Kwik Trip staff said they will now review their security procedures.