A female Pennsylvania liquor store employee was pistol-whipped by a black-clad robber, and the attack was caught on store video surveillance footage, according to police. The mid-morning robbery that left the worker injured on the job started when a man pulled out a gun as soon as he entered the store, which had just opened for the day. The gunman forced her into the back of the store and made her open up the safe, a police spokesman said.
The clerk complied with the robber’s instructions, the spokesman said, which involved then going to the front of the store and give him money from the cash registers. Then, for some unknown reason, the man made her return to the back of the store and struck her in the head with his firearm. The police spokesman noted that she complied with the robber’s every instruction, but he still apparently felt that he needed to assault the woman.
Police said that it was their hope that someone would recognize the gunman from the video footage and supply them with information that could help them bring him into custody. The clerk was praised for being calm and brave in a dangerous situation. She was taken to the hospital for treatment of her head injury. Police did not disclose how much money the robber stole from the store’s safe and cash register.
A workplace injury can result from a violent criminal assaulting an employee or from more mundane causes like a wet floor or an improperly stored ladder. No matter what the nature of an on-the-job injury may be, employees may be entitled to receive workers’ compensation after a workplace accident. Medical expenses, lost wages and other costs may be recompensed as well.
Source: CBS Pittsburgh, “Liquor Store Employee Pistol Whipped By Robber“, December 14, 2013