
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 6, 1995                   TAG: 9504060086
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Short

CUSTOMERS WATCH AS STORE CLERK IS BEATEN BLOODY

Police said they are disgusted that at least six convenience-store customers stood and watched as an angry man bloodied the cashier with his fists.

A surveillance camera in a Fredericksburg 7-Eleven store shows three men and three women watching as a man punched the woman at least eight times in the face and body Monday, police Detective Ed Lunsford said Wednesday.

The customers offered the woman no help after the attack and left before police arrived, he said.

``It was a sickening thing to watch,'' Lunsford said. ``It was like nobody cared at all. I couldn't believe it.''

Police said the man entered the store around 7:45 p.m. on Monday, walked around the counter and screamed at the woman, ``I want my $15, you b---!''

Lunsford said the man punched the woman in the face twice with his fists. When the woman covered her face and turned away, the man punched her full-force at least six times in the back and side, he said.

The assault ended only when another man opened the door and shouted ``Come on, let's go.''

``The people in the store could have easily stopped the assault, but they did nothing,'' Lunsford said. ``That's what really irritates me.''

The assailant's hand, smeared with blood from his victim's face, left a print on the door as he left.

Paramedics treated the cashier for cuts and bruises at the store. She was not hospitalized. Lunsford said the woman was in her 40s, but police withheld her name.

Police said they have a suspect.

by CNB