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A 27-year-old man was arrested Monday after he allegedly hit several employees and customers at the Safeway on Shoreline Boulevard while trying to steal medication.

Employees who witnessed the incident told police that the man had collected a bag full of medications from the grocery store around 5:45 p.m. on Dec. 24, and attempted to leave without paying. When an employee tried to grab the bag, the suspect reportedly hit him multiple times before trying to get away, according to police spokeswoman Katie Nelson.

In addition to hitting and yelling at employees, the suspect allegedly hit customers who tried to intervene during the incident. He reportedly threatened to shoot one of the employees, Nelson said.

Police arriving at the Safeway found the suspect just outside the store, where he behaved aggressively toward officers, Nelson said. He was eventually arrested on suspicion of robbery and making criminal threats.

One employee had suffered minor cuts to his face during the altercation. No gun was located during the investigation, Nelson said.

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Kevin Forestieri is a previous editor of Mountain View Voice, working at the company from 2014 to 2025. Kevin has covered local and regional stories on housing, education and health care, including extensive...

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  1. Expect more and more of these as our Mountain View leadership continues to destroy Mountain View and put a giant Target on Mountain View’s bask that says ‘Criminals Welcome here, we hate our law abiding citizens with passion.’
    Case in point.

    ‘He was eventually arrested on suspicion of robbery and making criminal threats.’

    Ummm, multiple witness watched him assault people… and no ‘suspicion’ on a robbery here… I guess we just give criminal a light slap on the wrist these days. Maybe when he is let out five minutes later we can wait for the headline that he made good on his threat, and we can assert him for ‘suspicion of threat?’ which he will walk away from 10 minutes later.

    When will enough be enough city leadership? Why do you hate mountain view citizens so much?

  2. “member,” your comments are offensive and simply wrong re suggesting that our elected councilmembers wish harm upon this city or the people that live in it.

    Our national politics is polarized enough as it is; let’s cut the crap and avoid slinging this sort of defamatory nonsense here.

    We can disagree about approaches to governance, how we handle crime and punishment, and so on. But let’s do so respectfully, thoughtfully.

    And yes, I’ve suffered from a violent assault and property damage in the Bay Area, and yes, I’ve been angry about it. But being hateful and angry and pitting people against each other accomplishes nothing.

  3. Just another day at the N Shoreline Safeway, this kind of stuff happens every day during concert season. For some reason that location has become the Wild West.

  4. @ThatAdamGuy

    How are they wrong? Our stats don’t lie. Crime up, Homeless up, RVs up, all the council members are in the developers pocket. All receive campaign contributions from them. Projects are never denied. Trying to do all the things that destroy cities: Rent Control, Sanctuary, all these paint a giant target on the city’s back.

    They may not actively wish harm, but everything they do and vote for does.

    Cannot deny the truth.

  5. Well, member, I think it’s fine to vehemently disagree with policies. e.g., “I feel these policies are destroying our city.” I mostly took exception to you making it personal.

    I personally have concerns about rent control, too, and have often disagreed with approaches of our city council. But experts / economists / land planners / etc. can and do disagree with each other, as well. It’s ridiculously hard to balance everything in a community :.

    Lastly, last I remember reading, there’s been no appreciable crime increase in MV in the last few years, but if you have stats suggesting otherwise, feel free to post links! (re homelessness being up… I can imagine that, but that’s a statewide, perhaps even nationwide problem <sigh>).

  6. First of all know one in that store was authorized to act on stopping the their. That’s what the police are for. Let them do their job. A few prescriptions is not worth ones life whose trying to be a super hero and stop a petty criminal. If someone is desparate enough to steal they’re probably ready to deal with anyone trying to stop them. Especially being as brazen as this person was. Use your brains. Don’t think you have bronze and try and save a corporation from loss. If they want to be preventative in these types of situations they need better security and loss prevention departments and procedures.

  7. Another newspaper reported a few days ago that Santa Clara police told some New York Giants fans to stop swearing and gesturing at a 49ers game and arrested them when they resumed. No legal cause for the arrests is stated in the article – except “resisting arrest” which cannot justify the arrest ab initio. The arrests ended up causing physical injuries, and a lawsuit is now pending in US District Court in San Jose for arrest without probable cause and excessive force. Last year, the City of Santa Clara paid millions to a lady who merely suffered a broken foot when she refused to let officers into her house to confront her teenager daughter over vandalism of a local school. Mountain View police officers are more careful. Officers need to understand laws before acting to enforce them. The County DA should provide that ongoing schooling. The man referenced in the article was arrested. He may be nuts. When the facts or laws are not clear, officers should neutralize any threat but then take a little extra time in deciding what to do next.

  8. Something is not right here. Having been in to that store on multiple occasions and having to stand in the massively long single checkout line, how is it possible for the suspect to even FIND an employee to beat up? Doesn’t add up…

  9. Hmmm— the store has self checkout stations so you do not have to stand in a single line anymore.

    Member-overexaggerate much????

  10. I think it has something to do with how employees are trained but also the real danger of working there. So mixed bag. Agree that employees should focus on the customer experience and leave law enforcement to the professionals. The Safeway @Miramonte used to put up barriers made of gumball machines to prevent people from grabbing something (liquor?) and running out the door – think Osha standards not to mention safety risk if the store really needed to be evacuated for just cause. The Miramonte store manager was once smacked in the face by a fleeing thief and sported a black eye for several weeks – but it makes all the employees suspect just about everyone who enters the store. I was shopping for a team building event earlier this year and impulsively picked up some glow in the dark ping pong balls and when my hands were full – went to to retrieve a hand basket – then while testing the balls with the flashlight on my phone looked for more on different aisles – by the time I made my way to the check out stand they had decided I was trying to rip them off – Funny the ping pong balls didn’t work so I returned them all anyway before leaving the store – and now when I walk in the store -the employees follow me. Have been shopping there for over 20 years but feel much safer at Nob Hill – where the employees are nicer, better trained and have long term employees that recognize long term customers. I wonder if the employees suffer some sort of occupational PTSD? Safeway really should do a workplace evaluation and employee training. Be careful out there – you are not presumed innocent when walking into the stores. This doesn’t happen at Nob Hill – same neighborhood.

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