Video shows pickup truck slamming into Nampa liquor store after incident inside
When a Nampa man was arrested after allegedly battering an employee before ramming his pickup truck through a liquor store’s entrance last week, police said the five employees and customers in the building remained uninjured.
Security camera footage from the liquor store shows the moment the truck slammed into the building and destroyed part of the store, and how close it came to hitting the employees and customers.
In the footage, frightened employees and customers can be seen watching the suspect, who had just left the building, through the glass front doors of the establishment located at 1225 12th Avenue Road at around 8 p.m. April 12.
An employee, with a cellphone to her ear, approached the door before running away from it and out of frame.
“Oh my God,” a person in the store said. “I thought he was going to run right into our building.”
Moments later, the employee with a phone to her ear again approached the front doors, while a second employee helped a customer with a purchase. Another customer waited in line.
The first employee pointed her finger outside the door before turning on her heels and running away, shouting, “Oh my God, he’s making a turn.”
People in the store screamed and quickly ran away from the store’s entrance.
Immediately afterward, a large pickup truck crashed through the building’s front doors, destroying the entrance, checkout counter and front area of the store where several people were standing moments earlier.
The five people inside the store — customers and employees — managed to get out of the way unscathed, according to a news release from the Nampa Police Department.
After ramming the building, the suspect, Richard Craig Christiancy, backed out and drove off, the release said. The vehicle was found a short time later in the 200 block of West Greenhurst Road and the 61-year-old suspect, who had left the truck, was taken into custody.
Christiancy was charged with five counts of felony aggravated assault, according to court records. Nampa police spokesperson Carmen Boeger said the five counts were for the five people inside the store.
Christiancy was also charged with two felony counts of malicious injury to property, failure to notify upon striking fixtures on the highway and a felony enhancement for use of a deadly weapon in commission of a felony, which Boeger said related to how the truck was used.
Witnesses saw the driver strike objects outside the store, including another vehicle and “landscape items,” the release said.
The Idaho Statesman obtained the footage from the Idaho State Liquor Division through a public records request. Many liquor stores in Idaho are operated by the state.
On Tuesday, Idaho State Liquor Division’s Chief Financial Officer Tony Faraca said the liquor store has reopened, less than a week after the incident.
Suspect interacts with employee before crash
A few minutes before the truck plowed into the liquor store, Christiancy can be seen on video at the checkout counter inside the store. He grabbed a female employee. He was later charged with misdemeanor battery.
An employee reported to Nampa Police Dispatch that the man was acting “belligerent” and refused to leave, according to the Nampa release. Christiancy was also charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence, according to court records.
“They denied selling him anything, so that’s apparently where the aggravation started,” Boeger said.
In Idaho, state law prohibits the selling of alcohol to people who appear intoxicated, Faraca said in an email.
In the video, an employee told Christiancy: “No no, you’re good, it’s just the rules that we have to follow. So it’s not a big deal, just be safe.”
Moments later, Christiancy, while standing by the counter, asked the employee, “Can I say something?”
He leaned toward her, and the employee leaned toward him, appearing to have trouble hearing his mumbled words. Christiancy then put his arms around her head and grabbed her.
“No, no, no, no, no,” she said. “No, sir.”
As of Tuesday, Christiancy was being held at the Canyon County jail. He was arraigned April 13, and bond was set at $1 million.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 4:20 PM.
