Employee swings bat at homeless man refusing to leave front of store. Now, he’s under arrest

An employee swung a bat at a homeless man who had refused to leave the front of a Fresno store.

Now, that employee has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

It happened around 5 p.m. Friday in front of the 98 Cents and More at the Kearney Center, located near the intersection of A and Fresno streets in southwest Fresno.

Fresno police said the employee confronted the homeless man outside of the store to get him to leave.

A disturbance followed.

Lt. Robert Dewey said the store employee used a bat during the confrontation while the homeless man swung a stick-like weapon.

“They started hitting each other,” Dewey said. “The unhoused male got the worse of the injuries.”

While it was unclear how many times the homeless man was struck by the bat, police said he suffered some head trauma.

The homeless man was transported to Fresno Community Regional Medical Center, having sustained non-life threatening injuries.

The store employee was arrested at the scene.

“Based on what we’ve seen so far, it it looks like what may have started off as self defense turned worse and the employee went too far,” Dewey said. “Instead of just defending himself, it became worse.”

The intersection near A and Fresno streets regularly has many homeless people in the area.

This story was originally published September 22, 2023 at 8:14 PM.