Food Service, Retail Workers Attacked

Safety at Work

Cleveland, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) – A restaurant employee washing catering equipment was attacked in broad daylight last week in a Cleveland alleyway, officials said.

Attacks on food service workers and retail workers have been prevalent since the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to happen across the country.

In Cleveland, video surveillance showed an employee of Sausalito on Ninth employee pressure washing catering equipment around 3:15 on August 27. As the employee works, a man with food and wine in his hands walks by the employee while her back was to him. After walking by, and looking around to see if anyone was watching, he set his food down and walked toward her.

"[He] then skipped over the alley. He jumped her and attacked her and brutally beat her," Charlotte Sigel, Sausalito on Ninth catering, sales and marketing manager, told news agencies.

The attacker then grabbed the employee from behind and slammed her to the ground, then punched her several times. The video showed the employee fighting the attacker and regaining her footing but being knocked to the ground and hit several more times. After the brief attack, the man paused, which allowed the employee a chance to get up and run into the restaurant.

"Extremely traumatic. I can't even imagine what she's feeling walking in. Seeing her with her injuries, that was bad enough," Sigel said. "It's absolutely sickening that somebody is capable of doing that to another human being. It's just unfathomable. She's tough. She fought him off. She got back into the restaurant. She survived and that's the one thing that we just keep reminding her is, you know, you survived this, and to kind of hold on to that."

Sigel said the employee is recovering from a partially fractured forearm, head trauma and several cuts and bruises.

The attacker was still at large as of last week, officials said. Sigel said knowing he was out there still was frightening.

"They said that they did track him to a RTA bus. The officer said he used some form of a card," she told me. "He's (a CPD officer) saying because he used that card and the cameras on the bus, they think that's like a strong lead, but obviously, you know, if anybody can identify him from the clips, you know, we really need the community to come together because she needs justice, and we don't want this to happen to anybody else."

More concerning, she said, was that the man didn’t give off any indication that he was dangerous, and that employees, friends and family all walk through the same alleyway.

"I think that's another layer that is incredibly shocking. He looked like a clean-cut person. His dreads looked in order. He had, from the video footage, clean clothes. He had his little side bag with him. He had food in his hand, a bottle of wine in his hand," she said. "I wouldn't think anything of it. Who can you trust?"

Cleveland police and the restaurant have increased security. The owners of Sausalito on Ninth is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the attacker, and the community has set up a GoFundMe for the victim.

And in Lee County, Ill., a 41-year-old woman is facing battery and assault charges after she allegedly attacked a Casey’s General Store employee.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Brandi Elliott was charged with felony aggravated battery, and two misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault.

Sheriff’s deputies said they were called to Casey’s in Franklin Grove for a disturbance. Witnesses told deputies that Elliott threw a hot cup of coffee on an employee causing burns. When the fight between the employee and Elliott escalated, Elliott threatened the worker with a knife.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Elliott was arrested and released from custody with pretrial conditions. She is due in court on Sept. 3.

In California, a high school student was arrested in connection with an attack on a 7-Eleven employee.

Officials said police were called to a 7-Eleven on August 21 in Bakersfield for a disturbance. When they arrived, they found one employee with minor injuries. Witnesses said a Bakersfield High School student was suspected in the case. The investigation into the incident was turned over to the Kern High School District police department.

Kern High School District police confirmed that a student was arrested in connection with the attack.

In Austin, Texas, police are looking for a man who attacked a Walmart employee.

Police were called to the Walmart in northwest Austin on August 11 for a report of theft and attack. Police said the man stole several items from the Walmart and attacked the employee as he left the store. After the attack, he boarded a CapMetro bus and left the scene.

Police described the attacker as a thin, balding, white man in his 20s or 30s, with tattoos on both arms and on his left leg. The attacker was last seen wearing a blue shirt, long khaki shorts, a colorful necklace, white shoes and a green and white hat with a handgun design on the front.

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