Man accused of stabbing shopper at discount store

A man who police say stabbed a shopper Friday at a Hollywood Dollar Tree store is in a Broward County jail.

Ryan Patrick Lucero, 23, of Hollywood, was arrested Saturday after also being accused of stealing beer from a gas station and assaulting a clerk.

A woman shopping at the Dollar Tree, 1900 N. Federal Highway, was struck with an approximately 8-inch kitchen knife that Lucero had taken from the store’s shelves, Hollywood police said.

Lucero stabbed her in the chest, shoulder and back, according to police. He continued to strike her with the knife after she had fallen to the floor; she got puncture wounds on her hands from trying to defend herself, police said.

The woman required surgery and was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, according to an arrest report. She gave a detailed description of the assailant.

The incident was recorded on store video and Lucero was seen dropping the knife and leaving the store, police said. Citing the open investigation, police spokeswoman Miranda Grossman said the agency would not release the video.

The next morning at a Marathon gas station a block south of the Dollar Tree, Lucero took two 12-packs of beer and a pack of cigarettes, a clerk told police.

When the clerk told Lucero he had to pay for the items, he began to smoke one of the cigarettes. The clerk called 911 and Lucero picked up a 3-foot-long stick and struck the man, leaving a 3-inch cut on the clerk’s head and a cut on his thumb, police said.

Police, using a description of the stabbing suspect, stopped and arrested Lucero as he was walking south along North Federal Highway at Taft Street.

The gas station clerk identified Lucero, police said.

Lucero who worked in a fast-food restaurant and gave police home addresses in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale, is facing charges that include attempted murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Judge Ginger LernerWren ordered Lucero held without bond for violating pretrial conditions in an ongoing car burglary case.