Updated at 12:45 p.m., June 4, 2015
A gas station store clerk was hospitalized with knife wounds after detaining a would-be thief at the business in Hawthorne early Thursday, police reported.
The crime occurred about 12:50 a.m. at the Chevron station at 3760 W. Imperial Highway.
Wesley Williams, 24, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery and held on $100,000 bail, the Hawthorne Police Department reported.
A co-worker told NBC4 that the suspect had repeatedly attempted to buy and then exchange headphones he had bought at the store.
Both of the clerks recognized the suspect when he returned to the store and tried to exchange his headphones, then allegedly attempted to steal another pair, ABC7 reported.
Gas station owner Moti Balyan told NBC4 the clerk then grappled with the suspect in the store and was stabbed and slashed with a boxcutter as he did so. Balyan said the clerk was able to detain the suspect until police arrived.
According to police, arriving officers “announced their presence, and the victim walked out bleeding profusely” and was escorted out of the store to be treated by paramedics.
Williams tried to hide from officers, but eventually emerged and was taken into custody, according to police.
—City News Service