Taunton man arrested after allegedly biting Sunoco clerk’s face
The clerk "had a serious gash below his left eye and was bleeding profusely," police said.
A Taunton man was arrested and charged after allegedly biting a Sunoco clerk’s face Monday night. Taunton police say 19-year-old Joel Davila — who was known to the clerk and had allegedly stole from the store at 231 Broadway in the past — had attempted to steal a bottled drink from the beverage cooler.
“When the store clerk put his arm across the cooler door to prevent Davila from opening it, Davila allegedly bit the inside of the victim’s elbow and then during a struggle, Davila bit the clerk’s face,” officers wrote in a release.
The clerk, a 55-year-old Taunton man, was “bleeding profusely” from a gash under his left eye when officers arrived at about 11:30 p.m. He was transported to a Boston hospital with serious but nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.
Davila was found sitting on the floor in an aisle of the store, according to police. He went to a local hospital for evaluation overnight and was placed under arrest Tuesday morning. He was expected to be arraigned at Taunton District Court.
“The actions of the suspect represent an attack of an innocent worker just doing his job and trying to prevent the theft of merchandise from his place of employment,” Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh said in the release. “I would like to commend the good Samaritans who were in the store at the time and helped the victim while preventing this dangerous suspect from escaping and possibly harming others.”
