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Man assaults bank manager in Grover Beach over mask policy

September 10, 2021

BY JOSH FRIEDMAN

Grover Beach police are searching for a man who allegedly used a racial slur against a manager at the Grover Beach Wells Fargo branch, then lied in wait and physically attacked the bank employee as he was leaving work. [Tribune]

On Sept. 3, a man who appeared to be in his late 40s, who is about 5 feet 11 inches tall with an athletic build and bald head, walked into the Wells Fargo branch on Grand Avenue in Grover Beach. The suspect entered the bank without a mask.

The manager, a Hispanic man and Army veteran, approached the suspect and greeted him like he would any other client, the Wells Fargo employee said. He asked the man to wear a mask if he was going to do business in the lobby.

After being asked to wear a mask, the man responded aggressively. The manager offered him one of the extra masks the bank keeps for its customers, after which, the man became more hostile.

Shortly afterwards, the man rooted through cabinets and drawers in the bank lobby. The manager asked him to stop and warned he would call the police to remove him from the property.

Then, the suspect allegedly said, “Well, you f*ckin sp*k. Come outside.”

After allegedly using the racial slur, the suspect left.

But at about 5:30 p.m., at the end of the manager’s shift, the suspect showed up in the parking lot while the manager was trying to get into his car. The man grabbed the manager by the back and pushed him toward a small wall at the edge of the parking lot and began wailing on him, the manager said.

The manager was dazed at first. He then realized what was going on and who was attacking him and fought back.

During the fight, the manager attempted to choke the man. At that point, a coworker of his could be heard calling the police from her car.

Shortly afterwards, the man fled. The manager took off his suit jacket and tie and chased after the suspect.

As police were approaching, the two men ended up in the front yard of a home. The manager looked toward the police in an attempt to point out his attacker. The suspect then scaled a nearby fence and disappeared, the manager said.

When officers arrived, he filed a police report.

The manager’s wife said her husband ended up in the emergency room with a concussion and lacerations to his head, hand and face following the incident.

Grover Beach police say they are investigating the case as a suspected hate crime and battery.

Police Chief John Peters said detectives have yet to identify the suspect. If investigators are unable to identify the man in the near future, the police department may post an image of the man on social media, Peters said.


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Correction officer at the men’s colony arrested


0

There is a short video clip of the assailant, posted on NextDoor.


He doesn’t look too far off from the previous poster’s guess.


1

Make all the “liberal” bashing comments you want, it is not people who vote liberal who are behaving with this level of insanity and it is not liberal sources who are encouraging this type of behavior. If you care about this country, it is time to cut out the encouragement given to those who are this unstable and begin to show more respect for our fellow citizens again. There is nothing patriotic about showing such ridiculous lack of sense regarding protective health measures in the middle of a pandemic and there is no excuse for such acting out in public over a very minor personal inconvenience when those in a public setting are exposing themselves all day, every day, to serve our needs. What are people thinking?


And I don’t need anyone telling me that my comment has nothing to do with the story, because you all know it does.


14

My first thought was Pit Owner John Hackleman, but he definitely looks older than “late 40s”


-23

It’s pretty callus to throw a random community member’s name out who is obviously not the suspect.


How would you feel if every article about a child molestation suspect was swiftly followed by people suggesting Fred Packer was the “first person to come to mind?”


20

Bank surveillance cameras????


55

Let’s hope the security cameras were on so the police can catch this guy.


47

If investigators are unable to identify the man in the near future, the police department may post an image of the man on social media, Peters said.


Why not just start by posting the image and speed up the process?


74

Yeah. Why can’t police conduct investigations how you want?


-28

Here we are over a week later and how many more people have been put at risk because the community doesn’t know what this psycho looks like? At this point, the police are protecting the identity of the criminal — which suggests he has close ties to the police force.


If this was a robbery, you know the identity would be shown across every news channel within hours.


12

GBPD asking for help identifying a package theif based on surveillance video, only 2 days after a package was stolen:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=107140668131737


GBPD asking for help identifying a commercial burlary suspect using surveillance video, 7 days after the incident:

https://www.facebook.com/GroverBeachPoliceDepartment/posts/3706980992744282


GBPD asking for help identifying a purse snatcher from Burger King using surveillance video, 2 days after the incident:

https://www.facebook.com/GroverBeachPoliceDepartment/posts/3508299415945775


^Those are small time non-violent misdemeanors and they blasted the suspect onto social media almost instantly.


But for the person who is violently attacking members of the community. Laying in wait to put their life in danger… it’s a “wait and see” approach?


Failing to share a picture/video of the suspect in the Wells Fargo Attack publicly — put’s the safety of our entire community at risk.


20