1 year ago
25
The beating seen in a now-viral video taken during a violent confrontation at a California 7-Eleven is under investigation by the Stockton Police Department.Watch the video in the player above.In the more than 5-minute clip, a man can be seen emptying shelves of cigarettes and other products from the store’s shelves before two store clerks step in to stop him. The clip shows one of the clerks pinning the man down while another beats the would-be thief with what appears to be a pole.A man, who wanted to be identified as Deda, filmed the beatdown and explained why he did not step in.“I’m trying to feel it out. My job is to make it home,” Deda said. “I wanted to maintain neutral in the situation.”Deda said he stopped at the 7-Eleven for gas and a Red Bull on his way home early Saturday morning when he saw the masked man pass behind him and head behind the counter.“I was a little startled,” he said. He said he engaged with the man to try to better understand his mental state. He said it was clear the clerks were frustrated, too. “I’m telling him, ‘No there’s nothing we can do. There’s nothing you can do,” he said he told the frustrated clerk. “I’m just filming it and I’m letting him know it’s all right.”The video shows the man being hit more than two dozen times. The manager of the store said questions about the incident would need to be directed to a corporate spokesperson. Messages left Thursday were not returned.Deda originally posted the video on his Instagram account and is not sure how it circulated outside of his account and into other social media platforms.Deda said he worries the situation would have escalated further had he not been there, adding the city – and the people in it – need to be better than what he saw unfold in the store last weekend.He said he ultimately ended up escorting the man out of the store. The Stockton Police Department confirmed that someone affiliated with the business did call police and that a report was taken. Further details couldn’t be shared due to the ongoing investigation, the spokesperson said.
STOCKTON, Calif. —
The beating seen in a now-viral video taken during a violent confrontation at a California 7-Eleven is under investigation by the Stockton Police Department.
Watch the video in the player above.
In the more than 5-minute clip, a man can be seen emptying shelves of cigarettes and other products from the store’s shelves before two store clerks step in to stop him. The clip shows one of the clerks pinning the man down while another beats the would-be thief with what appears to be a pole.
A man, who wanted to be identified as Deda, filmed the beatdown and explained why he did not step in.
“I’m trying to feel it out. My job is to make it home,” Deda said. “I wanted to maintain neutral in the situation.”
Deda said he stopped at the 7-Eleven for gas and a Red Bull on his way home early Saturday morning when he saw the masked man pass behind him and head behind the counter.
“I was a little startled,” he said.
He said he engaged with the man to try to better understand his mental state. He said it was clear the clerks were frustrated, too.
“I’m telling him, ‘No there’s nothing we can do. There’s nothing you can do,” he said he told the frustrated clerk. “I’m just filming it and I’m letting him know it’s all right.”
The video shows the man being hit more than two dozen times. The manager of the store said questions about the incident would need to be directed to a corporate spokesperson. Messages left Thursday were not returned.
Deda originally posted the video on his Instagram account and is not sure how it circulated outside of his account and into other social media platforms.
Deda said he worries the situation would have escalated further had he not been there, adding the city – and the people in it – need to be better than what he saw unfold in the store last weekend.
He said he ultimately ended up escorting the man out of the store.
The Stockton Police Department confirmed that someone affiliated with the business did call police and that a report was taken. Further details couldn’t be shared due to the ongoing investigation, the spokesperson said.
English (US)