{Coral Springs Police}
Coral Springs Police arrested a man they caught pushing a massive Coca-Cola brand refrigerator down Wyndham Lakes Boulevard after midnight, newly released footage shows.
An observant resident called police when they saw Francisco Arias Hernandez, 34, pushing the red fridge – recently stolen from the Coral Springs Walmart – past a home in their neighborhood on March 18, police said.
Bodycam footage posted by the police department on Facebook Wednesday shows officers confronting Hernandez as he tries to transport the fridge on a wheelbarrow.
A humorous exchange ensued.
“The sprinklers got on, the wheelbarrow broke,” a shirtless Hernandez said, holding a bottle of Coca-Cola as officers approached.
“Where are we going with this?” an officer asked Hernandez.
“Just here,” Hernandez said, pointing to a nearby home he said was his residence.
“Where’d you get it from?”
“Well, it’s a buddy of mine, he works actually for Coca-Cola Mexico.”
“I’m just trying to figure out what you’re doing out here with a Coca-Cola machine.”
“I think it’s a pretty sick refrigerator.”
Arias Hernandez Francisco Andres {BSO}
“I never said it wasn’t cool,” the officer said. “But it’s just a little weird at midnight for someone to be walking with a Coca-Cola machine.”
Hernandez said he started his trek with the fridge around 9:30 p.m., adding that large items were frequently moved by people on the streets of South Beach at 2 a.m.
“Unfortunately this is not South Beach, it’s not normal in this area,” the officer said.
The video then cuts to Hernandez being handcuffed.
Officers had examined the refrigerator and spotted a Walmart sticker on its exterior, police said.
While doing an area canvas, other police officers found an identical refrigerator on a pallet behind Walmart – with an empty space where the stolen fridge once stood, police said.
The video released by police eventually cuts to Hernandez being handcuffed.
“You stole it from Walmart,” an officer told him, adding that he is being detained.
“I did not. Boss, I did not.”
“Yes you did.”
Hernandez was then placed in the back of a police car.
Online records show he was charged with grand theft.
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