A passer-by was severely beaten Friday when he tried to stop two men from stealing beer from a Vancouver convenience store.
Dennis L. Waldon sustained multiple injuries to his head and torso when he intervened in the robbery at 6 p.m. at 7-Eleven, 102 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., according to court documents and media reports.
Surveillance footage shows that two men entered the store and each stole an 18-pack of beer, according to a court affidavit by Vancouver police, which alleges the men were Michael J. Mallory, 20, and Christopher H. Francisco, 22.
Store cashier Leonardo Garcia followed the men outside and attempted to recover the merchandise, but the thieves allegedly attacked him.
Waldon happened to be walking by the store at the time.
“I noticed there was a cashier from the 7-Eleven, and all of a sudden I hear him say, ‘Give me my stuff back,’ ” Waldon said in an interview with KATU from his bed at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. He was released from the hospital Tuesday, according to a PeaceHealth spokesman.
Waldon told the TV station that one of the thieves put Garcia in a choke hold. Waldon said he then attempted to place the thief in a choke hold but was slammed onto the pavement; when he got up, the thief punched and kicked him, KATU reported.
Mallory and Francisco were arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery. They appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court. Judge Barbara Johnson held them each in lieu of $75,000 bail.
Johnson appointed Vancouver attorneys Al Bennett and Jeffrey Barrar, respectively, to defend Francisco and Mallory.
They are scheduled to be arraigned on the charge Sept. 12.
