Lowe’s Employee Attacked with Sledgehammer, as Attacks on Workers Continue

Durham, NC (WorkersCompensation.com) – An elderly Lowe’s employee is recovering after he was attacked by a customer with a sledgehammer, as the attacks on employees continue across the country.

Police in Durham, N.C., said video cameras caught a man who was accused of shoplifting taking a sledgehammer out of his cart and hitting the employee on July 30. The suspect then ran out of the store with a drill set box in his hands as the employee fell to the ground.

Emergency responders transported the victim to the hospital with serious injuries. The victim is now reported to be in stable condition. Police have charged Aaron Deshown Williams, 25, with aggravated assault and robbery with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury.

According to WRAL News, another employee said it’s been hard for him to return to work since the attack.

“I didn’t realize until I stepped a little closer and saw he was in a red vest and lying in his pool of blood from his injury. It was shocking and very scary,” the employee, who asked to not be identified to save his job, said.

In Elk Grove, Calif., an angry customer chased employees around a Baskin-Robbins store before punching one worker and throwing items on the floor.

Police said the customer came into the store on July 16 and ordered a sandwich at the Baskin-Robbins/Togo’s. Video caught when the suspect started shouting at one employee and chasing them into the back of the store. There, the customer found another employee, Emily Ruiz, and punched her in the face, pushing her into a door. When Ruiz turned to get away from the attack, the suspect hit her with a backpack.

“She hit me and I was like 'What? What happened?' I was in shock and then I tried to enter [the manager's office], to go to a manager, and she hit me again and my head started to hurt and I was like, nervous," Ruiz told news outlets. Ruiz went to the hospital for treatment with shoulder and neck pain, as well as scratches on her face and neck.

Store manager, Michelle Narayan, said the attack left her speechless.

"It was really scary. We've been here 30 years," Narayan said. "We've never experienced anything like this before."

Narayan said she is planning on having two additional locks installed in the building and adding an extra panic button.

Police said they are looking for Hazel Shaver, 44, for the attack. An arrest warrant has been issued for her on charges of battery causing bodily injury, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and vandalism.

Workers at a Henry County, Ga., Sam’s Club are calling for a security guard to be stationed in the store after they were attacked by a customer over pizza.

Workers at the store said a mother and her two daughters came in two minutes before closing on July 10. The group ordered two whole pizzas. When workers told them it was too late to order the pizzas, and could not get a manager fast enough for the customer’s liking, the mother, Andreana McKnight, came back to the kitchen and punched the manager in the face.

Police arrested McKnight. Her 20-year-old daughter Victoria Wilson was taken to the hospital, but there is now a warrant out for her arrest.

Video of the incident shows a worker trying to defend herself as a woman swings at her while other employees break up the fight. Henry County police said they have another video that shows McKnight walking around behind the counter hitting the workers, and her daughters following her.

The victim, Cierra Monroe, said she still has headaches, scratches and a scar on her face. She wants to know why Sam’s doesn’t have a security guard, especially since another customer attacked a different worker earlier in the week.

“Prior to, we did have an altercation with another customer and he was escorted out,” she said. “But he was escorted out by the employees though. I just feel like we need to have security from the moment we open to the moment we close, every day, seven days a week.

A spokesperson for Sam’s Club told WSB-TV employee safety was a priority but would not say for certain if the company plans to have a full-time security guard.

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