By Mary O’KEEFE

The suspect in the assault against a Vons employee has been arrested and will be in court on Monday.

The assault occurred on Sunday, Sept. 16 at the Vons in the 3200 block of Foothill Boulevard when an employee witnessed a man allegedly taking two bottles of liquor and placing them in a satchel he carried over his shoulder. The employee told the suspect to put the bottles back on the shelf. The man reportedly began yelling obscenities, grabbed more liquor bottles from the shelf and walked out of the store.

The employee followed the suspect onto the driveway and again told him to return the stolen items. The suspect yelled obscenities again and took out a liquor bottle and struck the employee several times. A minivan was waiting, reportedly driven by a woman with several passengers along with a young girl who appeared to be 8 years old.

Detectives used several resources to find the suspect, later identified as Alyxander Ruiz, 23, of Tujunga.

“[Detectives] responded to an address in Tujunga and saw the [suspect] enter a minivan. They followed the van to the Albertsons in the 6200 block of Foothill Boulevard. [The suspect] parked the vehicle and went into Albertsons,” said Tahnee Lightfoot, Glendale Police Dept. spokeswoman.

The suspect allegedly stole alcohol from Albertsons and got back into the minivan. GPD officers conducted a traffic stop; when the suspect saw the police unit behind his minivan, he reportedly put his vehicle in reverse and rammed the officers’ vehicle.

The suspect was arrested shortly after; there were no officers hurt.

The U.S. Marshals assisted GPD and arrested the suspect on Oct. 16. It was discovered there was a warrant in Ruiz’s name from 2017 for shoplifting. He has a preliminary court appearance on Oct. 29 and is being held on $235,000 bail.

  Mary Okeefe