‘I’m Cracking This Beer, OK?’: Florida Man Asks Cops if He Can Open Beer During Arrest

A Florida man wearing sunglasses at night asked officers to let him crack open another cold one shortly before he was arrested for allegedly firing a gun during a dispute with a neighbor, police said.

The Port Orange Police Department said officers responded to a dispute between neighbors shortly before 9 p.m. on April 16.

Body-worn camera video shared by the police department shows the complaining neighbor alleging that his neighbor drove by earlier, opening his window and "telling me he was going to shoot me."

At that moment, a shot can be heard in the area.

"You see what I mean?" the complaining neighbor says. Several neighbors were outside at the time of the shot. Officers follow the sound and find the suspect, Brett McPeek, outside in front of his residence.

"That's him. I'm telling you," a woman can be heard saying.

An officer directs McPeek to show his hands and stay where he is.

"I'm cracking this beer, OK," McPeek says.

The officer asks if McPeek has any firearms, and he says no. The officer asks if there are firearms inside his house, and he says yes. Speaking over his radio, the officer says McPeek "has two beers in his hand."

"The beer is cold, sir, and I wanna drink it," McPeek says. "Come check me."

The officer declines, and McPeek says, "well I'm gonna drink this beer, is that cool?"

McPeek insists he's "done nothing wrong." He then complies with orders to keep his hands up, and he was arrested without incident.

According to police, McPeek was not in possession of the firearm when he was taken into custody, but a search warrant executed at his property turned up two handguns, one of which was a .38 Special revolver with a spent shell casing.

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McPeek was booked into the Volusia County Jail with no bond on charges of aggravated assault with a firearm and using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.

TMX contributed to this report.