Stolen Beer Leads to Brutal Bat Attack

Fredericksburg police are searching for a group of five suspects involved in a large fight outside of the Sunoco on 2307 Jefferson Davis Highway on Sunday evening. The fight saw two victims suffer trauma caused by a baseball bat wielding attacker. 

The incident began shortly before 9 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, when one of the attackers stole a single beer from the gas station cooler and ran across Route 1. At the time, there were at least three people in the store; the clerk and two neighborhood residents, a married couple in their 20s who frequent the gas station convenience store. The clerk pointed out the minor theft which just occurred to the couple. This prompted the two regular customers to follow the shoplifter by car. They caught up with the shoplifter a short while later in front of the nearby Camden Hills Apartments and were able to retrieve and return the beer to the store. 

"They described themselves as regular customers, in the store every day, friendly enough with the clerk…that when they came in, the clerk immediately told them that that guy stole a beer out of my cooler," said Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department. "It sounds like this couple were taking good Samaritanism to a higher level, and ultimatley, they ended up paying for it."

Shortly afterwards, the shoplifter returned to the gas station with four others and began arguing with the couple in the parking lot. The confrontation quickly turned physical, and the husband was hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat. A second victim, a neighborhood resident who happened to be walking by at the time of the fight, ran to assist the first victim, who he knew. The second victim told police that at one point during the fight, a knife was drawn. As he was  trying to help his friend, he was hit in the hand with a baseball bat, causing him to drop his cell phone. One of the suspects then grabbed the phone before the group of assailants fled on foot. 

No arrests have yet been made. Police have released descriptions for five of the suspects:

• Suspect #1 (shoplifter), black male 18-25 years of age, wearing a black shirt with white logo on the front, short hair
• Suspect #2, black male 18-25 years of age, shoulder length dreadlocks, armed with a small bat 
• Suspect #3, light-skinned black male 18-25 years of age, armed with a knife, wearing a white T-shirt and had a very thin beard
• Suspect #4, black male 18-25 years of age, shoulder length dreadlocks, wearing a black and grey shirt and jeans
• Suspect #5, black male 18-25 years of age, wearing an orange shirt with a design on the front, short hair

The two victims were treated for their injuries at a local medical facility. Their injuries are not life threatening.