Customer threatens clerk with machete

He must’ve smoke — bad.

When the Miramar store clerk refused to sell a customer cigarettes without identification, he got irate, left and went to his truck.

But he didn’t return with his I.D. Instead, the angry customer was toting a machete, Miramar police said.

And they’re hoping someone will recognize the machete man from a surveillance image released Thursday.

“The suspect walked behind the counter and continued to yell at the store clerk to sell him the cigarettes,” said Tania Rues, a police spokeswoman.

The scene unfolded about 8:30 p.m. Saturday at needed a 7-11 gas station, 11150 Pembroke Road, she said.

A panicked friend of the customer followed him into the store, shouting, “No, no, no, what are you doing?”

The two men left without further incident and no one was injured.

They drove a white truck towing a trailer full of tree trimmings, Rues said.

The store clerk, Rues said, described the man with the machete as about 6 feet 2 inches tall, possibly in his early 20s and with a bit of facial hair. He wore a gray tank top and black pants.

Investigators urge anyone who recognizes the man to contact Miramar police at 954-764-4357.

tealanez@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4542 or Twitter @talanez