Deputy Is Jailed in Store Rampage

An off-duty Orange County sheriff’s deputy was arrested at a San Diego convenience store after he pushed over display racks, broke doors and ripped out a sink during a drunken rage, police said.

Matthew Jacquot , 28, of Lake Forest, a deputy assigned to the Orange County Jail, was arrested Sunday after an employee and two customers pinned him until officers arrived, officials said.

Jacquot was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism, battery and being under the influence, police said. He is the son of Stan Jacquot, a longtime Sheriff’s Department official who recently retired as a division commander for the Harbor Patrol and once served as Mission Viejo’s police chief.

The alleged rampage began about 1 a.m. after a cab driver dropped off Jacquot and a friend at the 7-Eleven store in the 4500 block of Mission Bay Drive, said Dave Cohen, a spokesman for the San Diego Police Department.

The unidentified friend left while Jacquot went inside the store and went on what police described as a vandalism spree -- toppling racks, breaking doors, ripping a sink from the wall, Cohen said. He did not have a damage estimate.

The clerk called police and ran outside with two customers, police said. Jacquot followed them outside and fought with the clerk and customers, who finally pinned him, Cohen said.

“He was described as having been drinking, clearly under the influence,” Cohen said, adding that additional tests were conducted to determine his blood-alcohol level and whether he was under the influence of drugs.

Jacquot was taken to the San Diego County Jail where he was released on bail later Sunday morning, police said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has placed Jacquot on paid leave, said spokesman Jon Fleischman.

Jacquot could not be reached for comment.