Security guard stabs grocery shopper in fight over face masks
Santa Monica CA November 10 2021
A security guard stabbed a Vons supermarket shopper in Santa Monica after a fight broke out over the man’s refusal to wear a face mask, California police said.
The maskless man entered the supermarket at 10:35 p.m. Monday, Nov. 8, and “started to cause a scene,” police said in a news release.
He attacked employees who asked him to wear a mask, police said, then fought with a store security guard who tried to escort him out.
“It was all behind him not wearing a mask,” onlooker Andre Berryman told KCBS.
The shopper shoved the security guard into a conveyor belt, bystanders said.
The guard pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed the man repeatedly, police said.
The man left the store and the security guard called 911.
Police found the shopper outside the supermarket and provided first aid until paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital, the release said. He’s listed in stable condition.
The security guard cooperated with investigators, but the stabbed shopper has refused to answer questions about the incident, police said. No arrests have been made. Los Angeles required face masks at public places to combat the spread of COVID-19 in August.
