Trader Joe's Customer in Critical Condition After Stabbing

A 30-year-old Cambridge man is in critical condition after a Trader Joe's employee allegedly stabbed him after a verbal altercation in the store Thursday. 

Boston Police responded to the store around 10 p.m. after the victim called 911, saying he had been stabbed by an employee at Trader Joe’s on Boylston Street after the two had become engaged in a confrontation. The victim was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital with life-threatening injuries to his midsection. 

Polic soon located the suspect, Michael Guess, sweeping up inside the market. Guess told them that he and the victim had exchanged words when the victim attempted to enter the store as employees were closing for the night. The victim entered, made a purchase, and was leaving when the two men again exchanged words. Guess told police that he gave the victim "a poke."

"The victim was so seriously injured that detectives from the Homicide Unit were notified and still have the case pending an upgrade to the victim’s condition," Jake Wark, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Conley said in a press release Friday.

Police arrested Guess, 49, (A.K.A. Richard Thomas) of Dorchester. He was arraigned today in the Boston Municipal Court on one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for last night’s incident. Judge Sally Kelly imposed $250,000 cash bail, the amount recommended by Assistant District Attorney Edward Curley.

At the time of his arrest last night, Guess was in default on a Woburn shoplifting case and a Brockton case charging assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Guess will return to court on Feb. 26.