Arlington prosecutors have declined to pursue charges against a convenience store employee accused of slashing an alleged shoplifter with a knife.
The 24-year-old employee faced two misdemeanor charges stemming from the Dec. 16 incident, in which he allegedly pursued and confronted two men who left a 7-Eleven in Arlington Heights without paying for beer and other items.
After the suspected shoplifters left the store, court documents say the employee attacked one of the suspected shoplifters on the hand with a knife, causing a minor laceration on his left index finger.
The employee then punctured the tires of a suspected getaway car in the store’s parking lot, located at 201 S. Glebe Road near Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
The employee was initially arrested and charged with destruction of property and felony malicious wounding, though the latter charge was amended to misdemeanor assault and battery.
The employee claimed self-defense and prosecutors officially dropped the case last week, defense attorney Sudeep Bose told ARLnow.
“Police make errors and are often limited in time. I am neither limited in time nor skill in police investigations,” Bose, a former police officer, said. “Being trained in police work and continuing my training in police science and digital forensics pays off in certain cases such as this one.”
2/3 Police interviewed “eye witnesses” and charged client. Bose interviewed store employees who were never interviewed by police. Bose obtained video CCTV footage from nearby business which police did not seek. Bose concluded that police investigation was incomplete/flawed.
— Bose Law Firm (@boselawfirm) March 13, 2025
The two suspected shoplifters were arrested following the incident, though not for shoplifting, according to court records. One man was found in possession of a controlled substance, while the other man was wanted in a neighboring jurisdiction, police said.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
