MIAMI – A gas station clerk who works in Miami’s Little River neighborhood considers himself lucky to be alive after he was attacked and stabbed Monday after he confronted a shoplifter.
Police say Billy Joe Martin, 39, of Phoenix, Arizona, was responsible.
Police said he took a drink from one of the fridges and placed it in his pocket, when Khalid Quaran, a father of five, confronted him about the theft.
“He look like he wanted to make a problem,” Quaran told Local 10 News Wednesday.
Quaran said he asked Martin, “What did you put in your pocket?” He said Martin became aggressive, entering the glass-covered private area where the clerk was and punching him and stabbing him with a knife.
He was stabbed multiple times while working at a gas station. The surveillance video is terrifying. He shares his story with the one and only @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/xAfecj2FH4
— Rosh Lowe (@roshloweWPLG) January 18, 2023
Police said Martin then grabbed a pack of Newport cigarettes and left the employee area.
They later arrested Martin, who’s accused of spitting in an officer’s face and shouting numerous racial and ethnic slurs.
Quaran was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Martin appeared in court Tuesday, having arrived in Miami just days before.
Quaran said he considers himself “very lucky” to have survived the stabbing.
A GoFundMe page was started by Quaran’s family to help them while he is unable to work, and the page can be found by clicking here.