GILROY
– A store employee was stabbed three times with a pocket knife
Friday morning when he tried to apprehend two teenagers who
attempted to steal liquor from Arteaga’s Supermarket off Chestnut
Street, according to witnesses.
GILROY – A store employee was stabbed three times with a pocket knife Friday morning when he tried to apprehend two teenagers who attempted to steal liquor from Arteaga’s Supermarket off Chestnut Street, according to witnesses.
The employee, whose name was not released, was treated and released from Pinnacle Urgent Care Center with minor wounds to the head and back requiring 10 staples, said Ron Green, Arteaga’s manager who took the employee to Pinnacle. The employee is expected to make a full recovery.
Shortly after the incident Friday morning police apprehended the two suspects at their nearby apartment, Green said, and store videos clearly showed the two teenagers faces. Gilroy Police didn’t return phone calls by press time.
“They were wearing baggy sweatshirts and pants and hats,” Green said. “But we got a pretty good look with the cameras.”
The incident began at 7:30 a.m. when the two suspects entered the store, grabbed three large bottles of tequila and walked through the exit without paying.
Four male Arteaga’s employees saw the theft and followed the suspects to the parking lot. One suspect got in a car and employees stopped the other before he could open the door. The suspect in the car began to drive away and the other suspect dropped the tequila and began to flee north on foot, according to Green.
“One of our guys slammed the car door shut so the other kid couldn’t get inside and then he just began to run,” Green said.
Two of the employees finally caught up to the suspect on foot near Chestnut and Eighth streets. When confronted, the suspect pulled a small pocket knife and stabbed one employee twice in the head and once in the back, Green said.
“Apparently the cops knew who the guys were and they lived close by in an apartment,” Green said. “It’s too bad this happened but (the employee) will be all right and the guys were caught.”
