A Walgreens employee in San Francisco is accused of stabbing a shoplifting suspect in the eye in an altercation that was caught on camera.
Both the Walgreens employee, identified as 45-year-old Guang Hong, and the person he's accused of stabbing, 30-year-old Larry Whitlock, were arrested following Wednesday morning's incident on Castro Street, according to police.
Livestream video footage showed Hong and the store's security guard walk Whitlock out of the front door. After a few moments, Whitlock seemingly says something to Hong and then throws something. Hong runs toward Whitlock and begins hitting him.
Hong retreats back to the store while the guard keeps watch on Whitlock as he stays in the street. Moments later, Whitlock returns and Hong walks out of the store again. Words are seemingly exchanged again before Hong pounces on Whitlock.
According to the San Francisco Fire Department, Whitlock was stabbed in the eye and later taken to the hospital.
According to police, the incident all started as an argument in the store when Walgreens workers say Whitlock tried to walk off without paying.
Hong was booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, while Whitlock was arrested for battery and petty theft.
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As the only Walgreens in the city that's open 24 hours, residents say for better or worse it's a hub of activity in the neighborhood.
In a statement, Terry Asten Bennet, the president of the Castro Merchants Association and operator of Cliff's Variety store across the street from the Walgreens, said she's somewhat sympathetic to the employee. She said shoplifters and mentally unstable people threaten her staff on a daily basis. But she did say the Walgreens worker should never have gone out after the suspected shoplifter.
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