Peterborough store clerk charged following confrontation with baseball bat-wielding robber: police

Robbery suspect attack leads to charges for clerk There is outrage over assault charges against a store clerk in an incident involving a baseball bat-wielding robbery suspect.

A 22-year-old convenience store clerk from Peterborough has been charged following a confrontation with a baseball-bat wielding robber.

The incident happened on Jan. 5 at a corner store near King and Bethune streets.

Peterborough Police Service (PPS) were called to the area at around 2:30 a.m.

Officers at the scene said that a male employee was helping a male customer when a second man brandishing a baseball bat entered the store and demanded that the clerk hand over cash.

Police said that a struggle ensued and the suspect struck the worker with the bat.

The clerk then allegedly grabbed the bat away from the suspect, who fled the store, followed him out of the store and hit him “several times” with the bat on the sidewalk.

The suspect sustained head injuries and is now at a Toronto hospital receiving treatment.

The clerk, whose name has not been revealed, was treated at the scene by paramedics. He was subsequently charged with aggravated assault, and appeared in court on Jan. 6 and held in custody.

Police say that they intend to charge the robbery suspect, whom they have identified as a 37-year-old man, with robbery, assault with a weapon, and possession of weapon.

They are also looking to speak with a male customer who witnessed the incident.