Police nab thief after he was punched up by 7-Eleven clerk

A man linked to a rash of convenience store robberies — including one in which a Slurpee was flung at a store clerk — got a surprise in the form of a beat down from a clerk Tuesday night, during an attempted robbery at a southeast 7-Eleven.

The 14-second security video footage initially shared on Reddit shows a thief walking into the store around 11:30 p.m. before launching himself over the counter and digging for something behind it.

The clerk, who refused to comment on the incident, took two steps backward before unloading at least eight blows to the thief ’s head and tossing him back over the counter.

Dazed, the thief took a second to collect himself before fleeing the store.

Police believe the man they have in custody is the one shown in both the Slurpee-flinging incident as well as the video from Tuesday night.

Acting Staff Sgt. Scott McCann, with the Calgary Police General Investigations Unit in District 4, said they had been looking for the suspect in connection with up to 10 other convenience store robberies, and that charges are pending.

“We believe the offender did this on at least 10 occasions, this one included. We are gathering as much of the CCTV footage out there, and we are hoping to be charging him with a number of the offences,” said McCann.

“Our belief is it started with him just grabbing cigarettes, or whatever he could, then running away. Then the Slurpee incident happened. Now this one where there was a confrontation between him and the clerk. There were signs that this was escalating further.

“We’re pretty certain it’s going to be the same guy.”

McCann said he doesn’t recommend the type of vigilante justice served up by the 7-Eleven clerk.

“It’s the unknown that causes us concern when workers try to fight back when an offender tries to commit an offence,” McCann said. “They don’t know if that person has a weapon, what that person is willing to do to get away and, in the end ... no amount of property or money is going to bring back a person who is injured, or worse.”

Two Alberta convenience store clerks have died in the past five years standing up to thieves.

Maryam Rashidi died in Calgary on June 5, 2015, after she chased a man who fled after not paying for gas.

Fas Gas owner Ki Yun Jo was killed in Thorsby in October 2017 when he also chased after a vehicle that fled without paying for gas.