Employees Bit, Attacked on Job

Safety at Work

Minneapolis, MN (WorkersCompensation.com) – Police said a restaurant employee used his jiu jitsu skills to defend himself after an employee bit him.

Police said they are searching for a man who attacked the employee who worked at the Lotus restaurant. According to reports, the man bit 19-year-old Jezarious Sheldon six times on his back and shoulders.

"I work here I don't think of it as a job. I've known the family since I was like 13," said Jezarious Sheldon. Sheldon was taking out the garbage at the restaurant when he passed a man who said verbally confronted him.

"When I walked past him for the first time, he said something like 'what are you doing out here suburb boy'," Sheldon said.

Video of the attack showed several people were watching as the man continued to verbally attack him.

"There was a lady watching and she watched everything happen and he looks at the lady and he said watch what I'm about to do to this b-word and that's when he started pushing me against the window and then that's when it turned into self-defense," Sheldon said.

Sheldon said he used skills he learned as a high school wrestler and in jiu jitsu classes to fight back.

"And every time I would pick him up and have him in the air — he was what like 6'2 — so he had a lot of room, so he would latch on to my shoulder while I was taking him down and every time I would have him on the ground, he would bite my chest," said Sheldon. 

Bystanders separated the two, but the man kept coming after Sheldon.

Lotus co-owner Yoom Nguyen said the attacker bit off more than he could chew. He said the area has changed and that he wants more police patrols in the area.

Police say they are actively searching for the attacker, who could face felony assault charges.

Sheldon was one of several workers attacked on the job this past week.

In Boise, Idaho, police said an employee defended himself by opening fire after being attacked by a would-be robber.

Police in Boise arrested three suspects in the attack. According to the Boise Police Department, Bailey Geesey, 18, faces charges of aggravated assault and first offense commercial burglary; Junior Antonio Hernandez, 18, faces charges with aggravated assault; and a male minor suspect faces an aggravated assault charge.

Police said officers responded to a shots fired call to a business on West Fairview Avenue around 9:30 p.m. on August 2. Officers allege Geesey entered the store and stole alcoholic beverages. When the employee tried to intervene, Geezey punched the employee in the face. A physical altercation between the two ensued.

Hernandez and the minor then entered the store and joined in the assault on the employee. The victim fell to the ground and was repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped on, police said. The employee then pulled out a gun and shot at the suspects, shooting Hernandez. All three of the suspects fled the scene and drove away.

The employee was taken to a nearby hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The employee was taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Later, the officers located a vehicle that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicles. All three suspects were found inside.

In Grand Rapids, Mich., a zoo employee was attacked on zoo property.

Police said an employee at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids was assaulted on Wednesday, July 30, around 3 p.m. Officials said the employee was near a service entrance when a man attacked her. The man was not authorized to be in the restricted area, COO of the Zoo said. Other staff came to the woman’s aid and called 911.

While the suspect ran off, Grand Rapids found the man and took him into custody. Officials said the assault is under investigation and the zoo is reviewing what steps it can take to prevent any similar attacks from happening.

"Our thoughts are with [the employee] at this time, and we will continue to do everything we can to support our team," said McIntyre.

And in Memphis, Tenn., a restaurant shift manager was attacked by one of his team members when an argument between the two turned violent.

The incident happened at a Bojangles in Memphis.

Police said a customer made a comment that triggered one of the restaurant’s 17-year-old employees. When another employee laughed, it caused a fight between them.

“I was just trying to work the rest of my shift,” the victim said. “I had three hours left.”

The manager said he had tried to break up the fight, but the 17-year-old employee began to pull his hair and to vandalize the restaurant. According to video of the incident, the employee was holding a knife which she raised in a threatening manner toward the manager.

“She told him she was going to kill him. Another team member had to get the knife out of her hand,” said the victim’s mother.

Police said the employee then called her mother for help and told her that the victim and the other employee the suspect had been fighting had jumped her.

The victim said he was just trying to do the right thing by stepping in to de-escalate the situation. Moments later, police said, the 17-year-old employee’s mother, 40-yer-old April Smith, showed up at the restaurant with another male and female suspect.

“They jumped him, and they held him down. The mom pointed a gun at another team member saying that if they jumped in, she would shoot him. The video shows one of the male suspects pistol-whipping him,” said the victim’s mother.

Video also showed Smith hitting another 17-year-old employee with a metal rod. The manager said he hid behind a dumpster until his mother arrived. Police said the suspects circled the parking lot of the restaurants in their vehicles until they left the scene.

“I am just shocked and very hurt that another mother would do this to someone else's child,” the victim’s mother told media outlets.

The victim was taken to a nearby hospital and treated with 20 stitches near his eye, as well as other injuries. He told investigators he was just glad he wasn’t killed. Memphis Police said they were still searching for the male suspect in the case.

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