Velentina Boulter
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas has confirmed the two 7-Eleven workers who beat up a man who tried to rob their store will not be charged with assault.
The incident occurred at a 7-Eleven in Stockton, California, after the suspected robber began taking packet cigarettes off the shelf and put them into a large garbage bag.
As the suspect continued to steal cigarettes, one of the workers began to retaliate by holding the man down while another started beating up the suspect with a giant stick, hitting him as many as 26 times.
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A video of the two workers hitting the robber with a stick went viral across the internet earlier this month.
"That's called whooping your a**," the person filming shouts in the video.
Initially, it was reported that the police were treating the two store clerks as suspects for assault alongside the suspected robbery case.
However, District Attorney Ron Freitas later said in a statement via Twitter that this was not the case.
“The Stockton 7-11 Store Clerks are not and have never been suspects of the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office," he said.
“Any investigation going forward is to hold accountable the individual who threatened and attempted to rob them.”
Prior to this incident, police had received reports about three separate incidents involving the same suspect.
According to KCRA, the first of the incidents happened on 28 July just after 3:40 am when the alleged robber took some cigarettes after going behind the counter.
On 29 July, the same suspect returned just before 12:30 am demanding the shop clerks hand him over some money.
The suspect also claimed he had a gun.
He returned for a third time and this is when the workers took matters into their own hands.
The Mayor of Stockton, Kevin Lincoln, also released a statement on Twitter defending the actions of the two workers.
“California state law, Proposition 47, hinders businesses daily by increasing shoplifting incidents and decreasing our law enforcement’s ability to hold accountable those responsible for such acts," he said.
Proposition 47 was passed in 2014 and re-categories offenses such as shoplifting, personal use of drugs and fraud as misdemeanours and not felonies.
The proposition was intended to allow for more rehabilitation opportunities and reduced the number of people in prison.
And while the proposition has lower re-incarceration rates, there has been a 9 percent rise in thefts since being passed.
“These kinds of California state laws continue to impact communities,” said Lincoln.
“We will continue to monitor this incident through the judicial process.”
The District Attorney’s office will continue to investigate the suspected robbery and will have more information once it becomes available.