At approximately 11:42 last night, MPD officers cuffed an employee behind the counter at the 7-Eleven in the 3100 block of 14th street NW. One cop lifted the man by his armpits, another by his legs. The employee—swearing, cursing, kicking—was carried out of the store and into the back of a cruiser idling on 14th street. After a brief struggle, the cop managed to close the door on the flailing suspect, who continued to hurl imprecations through the closed window.

“He was chasing his manager up the street with a bat,” one bystander said. “Just chased him right up 14th swinging at him.”

Another bystander caught video of the incident on her phone. MPD reviewed the footage before clearing the scene.

Officer Quintin Peterson says the incident was an “employee dispute” between 7-Eleven employees. “One allegedly assaulted the other with a baseball bat,” Peterson said. “One’s being treated for non-life-threatening injuries; the other was arrested with a baseball bat.”

Though I saw the assailant repeatedly try to kick an officer in the balls, Peterson added that no officers were injured during the struggle.

A girl of eight or nine stood grinning outside the 7-Eleven.  “This is the greatest night of my life,” she told me once the man was secured in the back of the cruiser. She shook her head and her little braids bounced back and forth. Her eyes were wide. “I…I have never seen anything like this before.”