A violent confrontation inside a South Columbus Kroger in Ohio ended with a security guard losing part of his thumb after a man allegedly bit it off during a fight.
The altercation happened on Wednesday at the Parsons Avenue store, where the guard had crossed paths with the suspect, 58-year-old L. A. Willis, multiple times before. In the guard’s 30 days on the job, he had dealt with Willis at least six separate times.
Their last run-in became violent, prompting an onlooker to record the incident. Video of the altercation shows the two men fighting before they began tussling on the ground. A worker tried to talk Willis out of continuing the fight. However, he resorted to holding a handful of the guard’s hair in his hand until others got involved and managed to put an end to the dispute.
At one point, the footage captures a portion of the guard’s thumb lying on the store floor. According to reports, the situation began when the guard attempted to escort Willis out of the store for trespassing.
Court documents said that Willis attacked the guard, and when they fell to the ground, he got on top. The guard tried to break free by pushing Willis away, which was when Willis allegedly clamped down his teeth on the guard’s thumb. With his jaws tightly shut and his reluctance to let go, a part of the finger was ultimately bitten off.
Columbus police say they were alerted around 11:24 a.m., when a report of an assault in which a suspect had bitten off all or part of a security guard’s finger came in. While reports did not release the identity of the guard, it was confirmed that he is not a special duty Columbus police officer. Following the incident, he was treated at Grant Medical Centre, and his condition is stable.
When officers arrived, Willis had already left the scene, but he was found a few blocks away. He now faces a charge of felonious assault, and his bond has been set for $2 million. Reports say he refused to answer investigators’ questions and declined to have his mugshot taken.
