The man seen getting clobbered by employees while attempting to rob a California 7-Eleven was arrested — and connected to a string of crimes in the area, including two previous robberies at the store seen in the viral video of his beatdown.
Tyrone Frazier, 42, was picked up Monday night after police found him at the scene of a vandalism incident, just blocks from the 7-Eleven where he was filmed during the attempted robbery gone awry in the early hours of July 29, Stockton Police said.
In that video, Frazier could be seen shoveling packs of cigarettes into a 20-gallon trashcan before a pair of store clerks sprung into action and fought back.
Frazier was tackled and held to the ground by one employee, while the other charged at him with what appeared to be a wooden broom handle and beat him about the feet, legs and behind.
“That’s called whooping yo a–!” a man filming the encounter yelled as the blows rained down on Frazier, who finally cried “OK! I’m done!” before the beat-down let up.
Frazier was heard threatening to shoot the employees while reaching for an object in his back pocket before they took him down.
He fled the 7-Eleven before police arrived, but authorities encountered him later that night when they responded to reports of a man complaining about leg pain from being beaten by a stick but wouldn’t reveal how it happened.
Frazier wasn’t arrested at the time because responding officers weren’t aware of the incident at the 7-Eleven, according to KCRA 3.
Once footage of the 7-Eleven robbery began to go viral online, police connected Frazier to the incident and later arrested him when he was found at the scene of the Monday vandalism call.
The 7-Eleven employees reported that their response to Frazier robbing and threatening them was the culmination of two days of him harassing their store.
On July 28 around 3:40 a.m., he allegedly threatened to shoot employees before going around the counter to snag a handful of cigarette packets before taking off.
Then around 12:27 a.m. on July 29, he entered again with more threats to shoot the store up, but when employees refused to comply he grabbed some food and lit out again.
Police said Frazier was associated with a third robbery in the area that hadn’t been reported, though it is unclear if it was at the 7-Eleven.
The store clerks were initially the subject of an investigation for assault charges, but the local district attorney announced Tuesday that inquiry had been dropped.
