Harlem Worker Dead, Others Injured as Attacks Against Workers Continue

Harlem, NY (WorkersCompensaiton.com) – A 63-year-old grocery store worker was attacked and beaten to death outside of the Harlem store he worked at earlier this month, as attacks on workers across the country continue.

Officials said Bernardo Gonzalez Perez was cleaning the sidewalk outside of Food Universe in Harlem, N.Y. when he got into an argument with a homeless man, Carlos Ramirez, 48.

When the quarrel escalated, Ramirez picked up a “large plank of wood” and hit Perez “in the head several times,” according to the police report. The attack left Perez with a head injury, several cuts and bruises, officials said, but left him unable to communicate and slipping in and out of consciousness.

Perez was taken to a nearby hospital where he died four days later.

Ramirez was initially charged with felony assault and ordered held on $1 million bail, but his charges are expected to be upgraded at his next court appearance on July 27, police said.

The attack is the latest in attacks against workers that seem to have escalated since the pandemic.

In Gurnee, Ill., outside of Chicago, police said three people attacked a Six Flags Great America worker who “accidentally bumped” a ride passenger.

On Saturday, July 8, police said, a Six Flags ride operator accidentally bumped as passenger as they were getting on a roller coaster while the passengers were waiting on the ride platform.

The passenger and his friends became irate and charged the ride operator, throwing things at him and hitting him.

The ride operator was treated for minor injuries.

Police said the attackers initially left the park, but police and security were told what happened and 18-year-old Adrian Ortiz, of Chicago, was taken into custody and arrested for mob action and battery. A 14-year-old girl from Chicago and a 17-year-old girl from Skokie were also arrested and referred to juvenile court for mob action and battery.

In Akron, Ohio, a Dollar General worker was attacked with a can of Pepsi.

Police said a 64-year-old man is facing charges after attacking the Dollar General store employee. Police were called to the store where they found the victim, a 42-year-old woman, in the parking lot. The woman said the man, David Marsh, tried to exit the store without paying for a 12-pack of diet Pepsi. When she confronted him in the parking lot, she told police, he attacked her. According to the police report, he hit her multiple times in the face with a can of diet Pepsi.

Officials said the victim sustained a laceration to the head and face, and lost a tooth. She was taken to a nearby hospital after being released by EMS personnel.

Marsh was found nearby and arrested.

In New York, police are looking for two women they say kicked the glass out of the door to a 99-cent store and attacked an employee.

Police said the two women entered the store on the Lower East Side last month and began to take merchandise out of the store without paying. When the store employee tried to stop them, they attacked him, repeatedly punching them in the head.

After the attack, the suspects fled on foot. Police said video surveillance showed the suspects entered LaGuardia NYCHA Development on Madison Avenue.

The employee was treated on the scene and released.

And at Walt Disney World, a man was arrested for attacking a cast member at EPCOT.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Seth Davis, 39, became upset after Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure had technical difficulties. The San Bernardino, California resident visiting the park became irate with a Disney cast member when the ride was shut down.

The employee told officers that Davis became “verbally aggressive” after being forced to leave the line. The cast member went to get a manager, who told Davis she would try to get him into the line faster next time. When the tablet she was working on also had technical difficulties, causing Davis to become even more upset.

Officials said Davis tried to reach for a different tablet when Davis slapped the tablet out of her left hand, “causing it to hit the right side of her rib cage and fall to the ground.”

The manager told security she had been hit and was later taken to AdventHealth emergency room for minor injuries to her left hand and rib cage. Davis was arrested and taken to Orange County Jail on charges of battery.

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