LATEST: Man accused in violent beating of gas station workers has lengthy criminal history
LATEST: Man accused in violent beating of gas station workers near 49th & Lisbon has lengthy criminal history
LATEST: Man accused in violent beating of gas station workers near 49th & Lisbon has lengthy criminal history
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- FOX6 News is learning more about a man accused of brutally beating two gas station employees near 49th & Lisbon in an incident that was caught on camera.
The video, captured via a cell phone camera on Saturday evening, February 21st is disturbing.
Around 9:20 p.m., the 21-year-old suspect confronted two Mobil gas station employees who accused him of stealing items. The suspect took a wooden bat that belonged to the employees and started beating them with it before he fled from the scene.
The victims, a 35-year-old Milwaukee man and a 39-year-old Milwaukee man, were taken to a hospital for treatment of their injuries.
The suspect was arrested on Sunday. His case has been presented to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office but he hasn't yet been officially charged.
"It was crazy. It happened fast. He wanted something bad. He just went crazy. I would have helped (the clerks), if I had...but I didn`t want to help him if dude had a gun -- then I get shot for no reason," Luis Caraballo, who witnessed the incident said.
The video taken by a bystander shows the clerks confronting the suspect. Outside the store, the suspect appears to continue antagonizing the clerks, and it appears he won't walk away.
The clerks have wooden bats in an attempt to get the suspect off the property. A garbage can is seen flying at them.
"He was still trying to fight the owners. He wasn`t trying to leave. He wanted something bad. He went crazy," Caraballo said.
Eventually, the suspect is seen walking back towards the store's door -- kicking it. The clerk takes a swing with the wooden bat, but the suspect grabs that bat -- knocking one man to the ground before turning to the other clerk and attacking him.
Gas station customers say they were shocked to see how the incident escalated.
This, as FOX6 News has learned this may not have been the 21-year-old suspect's first violent outburst. We are not naming the man because he has not yet been formally charged, but his history includes battery, domestic abuse, resisting an officer and criminal damage to property.
In 2012, the 21-year-old man was found guilty after a family member said he choked her -- grabbing her arm and swinging her over his shoulder and onto the ground.
Later in 2012, he was sentenced to 45 days behind bars after police say he demanded money from his mother. When she refused, court records show he threw a vase and shattered a mirror.
At the end of 2012, the man was found guilty after terrorizing his family. A criminal complaint says he destroyed their home -- smashing windows and knocking a television and refridgerator to the ground.
In July of 2013, the then 19-year-old was convicted after becoming enraged at his mother for not doing his laundry. A criminal complaint says he destroyed her porch and tried biting the arresting officer.
It is now expected that he'll add another crime to his rap sheet. It is expected he'll be charged in the gas station beating incident Thursday, February 26th.
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