Alleged thief in viral 7-Eleven beatdown video stole 2 other times, workers probed for assault: cops

A suspected shoplifter beaten by two 7-Eleven clerks in a viral video allegedly stole from the same California location at least twice before the employees took him down, police said as they revealed the workers are under investigation for possible assault.

Stockton police shed new light over the weekend on the July 29 confrontation in which the pair of workers used a stick to wallop a man who tried to swipe a trash can full of cigarettes.

The footage of the beating, which quickly went viral last week, showed one employee holding down the suspect while his coworker whacked him almost 25 times — while the alleged robber screamed in agony.

The encounter was at least a day in the making, according to cops.

The suspect went behind the counter and threatened to shoot an employee if he tried to stop him the day before at around 3:40 a.m., police said in a news release.

He allegedly stole several packs of cigarettes and other items before fleeing.

The next day at around 12:27 a.m., the employee told police the same suspect again entered the chain business and demanded money while simulating having a handgun, cops said.

When the employee refused, the suspect instead grabbed food without paying and fled again.

Less than three hours later, the suspect came back with the trash can and began throwing tobacco products inside it before fed-up employees grabbed him.

Stockton police were initially confused by a report of an assault and a report of attempted shoplifting before they put the incidents together.

“The male did not know if he had been assaulted,” Stockton police said. “The male was then transported to an area hospital to be treated for a complaint of pain.

“At the time this was reported, Officers could not confirm if the male was a victim of an assault, or a suspect related to the series of robberies at the 7-Eleven.”

The footage that emerged on social media Thursday tied the alleged robberies and the suspected assault to the same incident, police said.  

In the video, the suspect was seen walking behind the store’s register tossing fistfuls of tobacco products inside a large trash can as an off-camera worker pleaded for him to stop.

As the suspected robber tried to shove past one worker, the employee dragged him to the ground, just in time for his co-worker to start beating him with a stick, the footage shows.

The man who captured the moment on video told one local station believes the beating might’ve crossed a line.

“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,’” customer Louis Benton told ABC 10.

“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.”

Benton, who was inside the store to get gas, said he posted the footage as Instagram stories before someone else grabbed the footage and pieced it together.

“I was shocked, so that’s why I really didn’t say anything in the video,” he said.

Stockton police said after the department collects more evidence, it will turn over the findings of the robbery and assault investigations to the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office for review.