STOCKTON — Prosecutors from the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that they will not be pressing charges against two Stockton 7-Eleven employees seen in a viral video attacking a robbery suspect with a stick.
“The Stockton 7-11 Store Clerks are not and never have been suspects of the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office,” San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said in a statement. “Any future investigation is designed to hold accountable the person who threatened and tried to rob them.”
Police received reports at 3:41 a.m. on July 28 from a 7-Eleven employee that a suspect had entered the business, stood behind the counter, and threatened to shoot the employee if he interfered.
The 7-Eleven is located on South Center Street opposite Stockton Police Headquarters.
The suspect, identified by police as Tyrone Frazier, 42, took several packs of cigarettes and other items and placed them in a large garbage bag before fleeing.
The next day, July 29, Frazier reportedly returned to the store for another robbery.
At 00:27, an employee reported to the police that the same suspect had entered the case and demanded money. He would have had a gun.
The employee did not comply with the requests, Frazier allegedly grabbed several food items and put them in a garbage bag before leaving the store.
In each theft, police said they arrived two minutes after receiving the reports, but the suspect was gone by the time officers got there.
Police said a third robbery took place, but it was not reported to police. That robbery was captured in the viral video.
In the video, a man, believed to be Frazier, wearing a blue face covering, can be seen pushing a garbage can around while allegedly throwing numerous objects into the bin.
A minute into the video, when the suspect begins to push the can away, a clerk is seen trying to stop him while another employee grabs a stick and punches the robber.
Repeatedly the worker strikes the man with a stick while the other worker holds him down.
“Okay okay!” the robber shouted between blows.
The person who recorded the video can eventually be heard telling employees to let the suspect go.
Officers met with Stockton firefighters at 3:05 a.m. on July 29 on or near South Center and East Market streets to assist a man who requested medical attention and complained of pain in his leg and shoulder.
The man allegedly told authorities he did not know if he had been attacked.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment and at the time police said they could not confirm whether the man was the suspect in the series of robberies or the victim of an assault.
On August 3, police linked the suspect in the viral video to the man who called the fire service for help.
Frazier was eventually arrested on August 7 in connection with vandalism and the 7-Eleven robberies.
