Man held at gunpoint asks to drink beer while it’s cold, Florida video shows

A man intimidating neighbors with a gun was still firing shots in the dark when police arrived, according to officers, but the confrontation took an even more unexpected turn when he insisted on drinking a beer while held at gunpoint.

“This beer is cold, sir, and I wanna drink it. ... Is that cool?” the suspect is heard asking in a video posted by the Port Orange Police Department on Facebook.

The standoff includes the distinctive sound of an aluminum can being popped open.

Port Orange police say the unusual arrest happened around 9 p.m. Tuesday, when a man reported he was being “threatened with a firearm” by one of his neighbors. Port Orange is about a 60-mile drive northeast of Orlando.

“Officers arrived on scene and while investigating, the suspect ... exited his residence and fired a firearm in the area of the officers, victim, and several neighbors who were outside at the time,” police said in a news release.

“Officers moved in toward the sound of the gunshot and located (a man) outside the front of his residence.”

The 32-year-old man was standing behind his picket fence, wearing sunglasses in the dark and holding two beers when police arrived, body camera video shows.

“Let me see your hands,” an officer yells.

“Can I crack this beer?” the suspect responds. “I’m going to drink this beer.”

It’s not clear in the video how much beer was consumed before the unarmed suspect agreed to turn around and put his hands behind his back. He is seen, however, tossing the cans into a trash bin.

He was arrested and a search of the home revealed two handguns, including a .38 Special revolver, officials said.

The man is charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, jail records show.

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