Man locked in Kwik Trip beer cooler stays and drinks

Karen Madden
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
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MARSHFIELD - A 38-year-old Marshfield man who police say decided to buy beer but got locked inside a cooler is facing two citations for drinking the beer.

A manager at Kwik Trip, 101 N. Central Ave., Marshfield, reported at 6:13 a.m. Wednesday a 38-year-old man had been locked in a beer cooler all night and had drank beer while locked inside, according to a police report.

The man told police he went to Kwik Trip to buy beer and got locked inside the beer cooler when it was locked at about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, according to the report. The man said he decided he might as well just stay inside the cooler and drink the beer, the report said. The cooler has a glass door and, if the man had knocked, employees would have heard him and let him out. 

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A customer told Kwik Trip employees the man was inside the cooler at about 5:50 a.m. Wednesday. The employees opened the door and the man left without paying for the beer, according to the report. The manager told police the man had drank an 18-ounce bottle of beer and three cans of malt beverage, according to the report. He also had fallen over a stack of 30-can beer packs, breaking three of the cases open. 

Police issued the man a citation for retail theft.