The employee of a Walgreens in San Francisco was taken into custody by the police after he was accused of using a knife to stab a shoplifter in the eye during a fight that occurred early on Wednesday morning over stolen merchandise.
The employee is seen following the alleged shoplifter onto the street, where the two engage in a physical altercation before the shoplifter falls to the ground while grabbing his face.
The footage caught on the surveillance camera is extremely graphic.
It would appear that the employee, who the police have identified as Guang Hong, 45, is attempting to deliver a final kick to his victim before walking back into the store.
Fox 2 said that the police confirmed that the alleged shoplifter, Larry Whitlock, 30, had been stabbed in the eye. Additionally, the police acknowledged that Hong had been detained and charged for assault with a deadly weapon.
As reported by the publication, Whitlock was sent to a hospital where he received treatment for injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening. Additionally, the police have charged him with violence and petty theft.
The gruesome episode occurred in the midst of a shoplifting crisis in San Francisco and other cities in California.
This issue has been caused by laws that are lenient toward criminals, which have allowed thieves to do whatever they want and have rendered store clerks and security officers helpless to stop them.
Just recently, shoplifters could only be punished with a misdemeanor if they stole things that were worth less than $950. This was the case until recently.
Proposition 36, a package of new regulations that strengthened the capacity of police enforcement to crack down on thieves and made shoplifting a felony charge in many situations, was approved by over 70 percent of voters in December.
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Some shoplifters have been slow to receive the message; in December, a funny police recording revealed a pair of criminals who were bewildered by the “new laws” and were lamenting them from the back of a squad car.
However, the individual who is accused of becoming a vigilante on Wednesday may come to regret taking the law into his own hands. If convicted, he may face a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
