Two 7-Eleven workers in California apprehended a man who was in the middle of stealing from the store and beat him with a stick, according to videos circulating on social media.
The clips, posted on Instagram by a user with the handle @yo_folkers, showed a man with his head and face covered in a blue t-shirt with a trash can behind the store's register. In the first video, the suspect is seen grabbing handfuls of tobacco products from shelves and throwing them into the can while workers ask him to stop.
The request is ignored by the suspect, who continues throwing items into the trash can, and at one point he's heard threatening to shoot the store's workers.
The person behind the @yo_folkers account told Newsweek the incident took place at a 7-Eleven in downtown Stockton.
"Just let him go. There ain't nothing you can do," the man filming the video is heard saying. But moments later, as the suspect tries to go past one of the workers, a scuffle breaks out.
One worker is seen tackling the suspect to the ground, and a second 7-Eleven worker appears with a stick and starts beating the suspect.
A second video shows the worker delivering blow after blow to the suspect while the other holds him down. The man filming says: "That's called whooping your a**!"
He adds: "Whoop his a**! Whoop him! Get him!"
After several more blows, he asks the suspect if he is ready to give up.
"Are you done?" he asks the man. The suspect says: "Yeah, I'm done...I'm going to go. Let me go."
The stick-wielding employee delivers two more blows, prompting the man filming to say "enough."
As the suspect screams, the man filming says: "No more! No more! Please. It's OK. Let him go."
In another video, the workers are seen considering whether to call police, but ultimately choose to let the suspect walk out of the store empty-handed.
The man filming is seen going behind the register, where he tells the suspect to not come to the store or steal again.
"I can't walk," the suspect says.
"You better walk tonight," the man filming tells him, before escorting him out of the store.
As he is walking out of the store, the suspect then asks if he can grab a soda.
"What kind of s*** you telling me? You do this s*** and you want a soda? No, no, no. Get the f*** out man," the man filming tells him.
Newsweek has contacted the Stockton Police Department and 7-Eleven for comment via email.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
