Hermosa Beach police weren’t concerned about the watermelon they found in a local fruit vendor’s vehicle. It was the baggies containing meth that were the problem, they said.
An officer patrolling a parking lot in the beach city around 4 p.m. Monday noticed a truck with registration stickers that had been altered to look current, police said.
A fruit vendor was hauling not only a watermelon but also narcotics, police said.
(Hermosa Beach Police Department)
When the officer questioned the owner of the truck, Sabas Arizpe, he claimed to have stolen the stickers from another vehicle, police said, a misdemeanor offense. Also, in checking Arizpe, he discovered he had an outstanding arrest warrant.
As Arizpe was being taken into custody, he allegedly told the officer there were drugs in the truck. When the officer conducted a search, police said, he found baggies containing drug residue.
The street vendor was arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and falsifying his registration, as well as because of his outstanding warrant, and his vehicle was towed.
Hermosa Beach police said they were not able to confirm whether Arizpe was dealing drugs alongside selling his fruit on the street.
The Hermosa Beach Police Department shared pictures of the incident in a social media post. Images from body-camera video show an officer sorting through small plastic bags and a watermelon underneath a seat.
“Watermelon with a side of meth???” the caption read.
Ryan Walker, a public information officer for Hermosa Beach, said the city had received a number of complaints from businesses of street vendors “operating illegally outside brick-and-mortar businesses.” He said police had issued about a dozen citations in the last month to those lacking proper permits to sell food on the sidewalks.
“What a bummer,” one person commented on the police post about the arrest. “I hope this doesn’t taint people from supporting honest vendors.”