Man grabs store clerk in chokehold, threatens to kill deputies, Placer sheriff says
An “upset” man grabbed an Auburn convenience store clerk in a chokehold, before he “threatened to shoot and kill” deputies and had to be subdued by a police K-9, Placer County sheriff’s officials said.
The incident occurred about 2 a.m. Tuesday at an AM-PM mini-mart on Dry Creek Road, just west of Highway 49. The Sheriff’s Office received a report of a dispute between a man and a store clerk.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office on Friday released edited footage from a store security camera which captured the dispute. The video shows the store clerk and the man, later identified as Michael Lane Medley, in an argument with the store clerk.
It was unclear what Medley and the store clerk were arguing about. Angela Musallam, a Placer County sheriff’s spokeswoman, said investigators did not know the specifics about the argument, and Sheriff’s Office “would hate to speculate.”
After the store clerk moved away from the store’s front entrance, Medley appears “upset” and tears down a sign that had been posted on one of the front windows, Musallam said.
Medley is seen in the video walking away from the store with the sign in his hand. But he returns and walks into the store. Musallam said Medley threatened the store clerk before placing the clerk in a headlock and chokehold.
The video shows Medley and the store clerk in a struggle, before Medley wrapped his arms around head and neck from behind.
After the struggle was over, Medley grabbed a bottle of wine and walked out of the store, Musallam said. Deputies responding to the reported dispute arrived and searched for the suspects.
The deputies found Medley hiding in a nearby bush. Then, Medley became “verbally aggressive” with toward the deputies, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Musallam said Medley “threatened to shoot and kill the deputies,” while resisting arrest. She said a sheriff’s K-9 then subdued Medley into compliance.
The store clerk did not suffer any serious injuries, and the deputies did not find Medley with any weapons, Musallam said.
Medley, 55, of Auburn, was arrested and booked at the Placer County Jail, where he remained in custody Friday afternoon. His bail was set at $50,000. He faces charges of robbery, making criminal threats and obstructing a police officer, according to jail records.
