Last Updated on April 12, 2026 by The HD Post Staff
Photo credit: Irvine PoliceCALIFORNIA – A Southern California man sparked a police response after allegedly demanding $55 in free gas and refusing to pay.
The incident unfolded at a gas station in Irvine, where the man, driving an Audi, demanded free gas.
When attendants refused, he parked at the pump and waited for free fuel.
Officers arrived and attempted to resolve the situation.
“I sincerely believe that money as a unit of payment is not real,” the man said in a video released in April by Irvine police.
Officers tried to reason with him, explaining he still had to pay for the gas.
“OK, you can believe that, dude, but this is reality,” the officer says. “If you want gas, you go pay for gas with cash or debit card, if you’re not going to do that, then you get out of here.”
Officers handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a police car, the video shows. The man was cited for trespassing and signed the citation, according to police.
41,000 police stops involved mental health issues in 2023
Situations like this often end up with police, even when the behavior may point to a mental health issue rather than a crime.
In 2023, about 2% of roughly 2 million police stops — around 41,000, involved someone with a mental health condition or psychiatric hold, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Across California, every county now has some type of crisis response program, but gaps remain — when teams aren’t on duty, police still respond to those calls.
In Eureka, a four-person crisis team handled about 1,500 calls in a year, while police responded to more than 1,700 similar calls when the team wasn’t available.
The program is expanding to seven days a week, but “it’s clear what we really need is around-the-clock [mental health crisis] teams,” said Jacob Rosen, who manages Crisis Alternative Response of Eureka (CARE).
In Irvine, officers said they used patience and negotiation to get the man to leave, warning that refusing a lawful order can still lead to consequences.
