STOCKTON, Calif. — The would-be robber who was beaten by employees of a downtown Stockton 7-Eleven in a now-viral video had previously robbed the same store at least two times in less than 24 hours, the Stockton Police Department said.
According to police, an employee at the 7-Eleven on Center Street, across the street from the Stockton Police Department headquarters, called officers at 3:41 a.m. on July 28 to report a suspect who went behind the counter and threatened to shoot the victim if he intervened.
According to police, the man got away with several packs of cigarettes and other items that he placed in a large garbage bag before leaving.
Less than 24 hours later, on July 29 at 12:27 a.m., the employee called police again to report that the same suspect entered the store and demanded money while simulating having a handgun.
The employee didn't comply and the suspect grabbed food items and put them in a garbage bag before leaving, police said.
At 3:05 a.m., officers responded to the intersection in front of the store to meet with firefighters who were with a man complaining of pain in his leg and shoulder.
The man, who police have identified as the attempted robber seen in the viral video, was taken to a hospital for treatment of his pain.
On Thursday, police said they were made aware of the viral video and connected the attempted robbery suspect seen in the video to the other two robberies.
Police said they were also investigating the possible assault of the suspect by the 7-Eleven employees.
Once investigators finish following up on the case, officials say it will be forwarded to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office for review of any potential charges.
What the video shows
In the video, now viewed millions of times, the man rummages through shelves of tobacco products, tossing items into the trash can before being grabbed by a 7-Eleven employee and taken to the ground.
Once on the ground, a second store employee grabs a wooden pole and begins hitting the suspected thief more than two dozen times.
The suspect eventually cries and shouts out, "I'm done!" The employee can be seen hitting the suspect two more times before stopping.
Louis Benton, who shot the video, then walks over to the suspect and escorts him out of the 7-Eleven.
"It came to a point where it got a little excessive so I was kind of like, 'Yo, you know, we got to chill, we got to relax,'" said Benton in an interview with ABC10 Thursday. "Those two workers who protected their store, they did a courageous act. I believe that if I wasn't there that guy would probably be more hurt than he was."
Warning: This video may be disturbing to some viewers.
Watch more Stockton news from ABC10: Suspect in shooting of Stockton police sergeant appears in court
