A 74-year-old man refused to stay down as six young attackers swarmed him outside a Baltimore 7-Eleven, where police say an attempted armed robbery spiraled into a beating involving a rifle, a sword and repeated blows in the parking lot.
Police put the video out Wednesday, showing the July 7 attack that unfolded before dawn outside the Liberty Heights Avenue store.
The 7-Eleven was closed when the assault began around 3:46 a.m., a store employee told WJZ-TV.
The footage shows the man nearing the store entrance before the first two attackers close in, one of them aiming what police called a “gray assault-style rifle.”
Within seconds, the victim is surrounded. Investigators are treating the attack as an “attempted armed robbery” involving six “younger males.”
The man kept fighting back as the group closed around him. Police video shows him trying to shield himself, grabbing what appeared to be milk crates for protection and even moving toward the suspect with the rifle before the attackers knocked him down again.
The worst blows came when the suspects hit him from behind. One attacker shoved him to the pavement more than once, others stomped and punched him, and one appeared to bash him over the head with the rifle.
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Another suspect who appeared to be holding a sword walked toward the victim and waved it at him before more objects were thrown.
The same attacker who repeatedly shoved the man appeared to skip away after one knockdown, then later jumped into the air and kicked him while he tried to get up.
The clip released by police cuts off before the confrontation is resolved. Authorities later said the victim’s injuries were minor.
Another fast-food robbery, this one in St. Louis, turned violent when a 65-year-old tried to stop a thief from leaving with his wallet.
Police placed the July 2 attack at the Jack in the Box on South Kingshighway in the Southampton neighborhood, shortly before noon.
The victim was eating when the suspect allegedly walked up, took his wallet from the table and bolted.
Outside, the victim reached into an older-model gold Toyota Avalon to recover the wallet. The suspect then reversed, dragging him down before fleeing, police said.
The man suffered arm lacerations and was taken to a hospital. Police said the injuries were not considered life-threatening, and the investigation was still open.
In Pearland, Texas, a 79-year-old Air Force veteran said the safer choice still left him vulnerable: he used an ATM inside Walgreens, then was attacked outside.
The veteran told KHOU-TV he thought withdrawing cash inside the store would be safer, but he suspects someone may have been watching him.
A KHOU video report showed the end of the June 19 attack, with the victim lying on the ground in a parking space outside the store as a juvenile took his wallet.
The veteran told the station he was jumped as soon as he walked out and was thankful he suffered only minor injuries.
Officers were called June 19 to the Shadow Creek Parkway Walgreens after the robbery.
Police say the veteran had just withdrawn cash and was returning to his vehicle when a man in a white shirt and black pants assaulted him.
The suspect stole the man’s wallet and the cash he had just withdrawn, according to police.
Police later identified the juvenile shown in the department’s since-removed Facebook video, explaining that the clip was taken down because of his age. Officers were still working to take him into custody.
Detectives also arrested two other suspects in the robbery.
Donte Belle, 30, of Houston, was charged with aggravated robbery after detectives identified him as the getaway driver.
A second Houston man, 23-year-old Demondtra Moore, faces the same aggravated robbery charge as the alleged lookout.
Pearland Police said the Special Investigations Unit of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division is still working the case.
In New Jersey, an elderly couple was terrorized inside their Collingswood home by intruders who were searching for “gold coins.”
The Collingswood case led investigators to Jose Sanabria, 32, of Camden, who was arrested after the May 31 attack on East Summerfield Avenue.
The charges against Sanabria include armed robbery, home invasion burglary, aggravated assault and related offenses.
The intruders were looking for “gold coins,” police said.
After being dragged upstairs, the husband found his wife, also in her 80s, on the floor with a bag over her head, according to his account to police.
Investigators said the man was warned not to move or his wife would be killed.
The attackers eventually fled with about $5,000 worth of gold and currency, officials said.
Surveillance footage, cell phone data and other evidence later pointed investigators toward Sanabria.
Sanabria was taken into custody July 8 in Philadelphia, where he remains pending extradition to New Jersey.
The investigation is still active, and officials said a second suspect is still being sought.
