Atwater Wal-Mart robbers take TVs, punch clerk

Police were looking for two men today who attacked a Wal-Mart clerk during a robbery at the Atwater store the night before.

Police said two men punched a store clerk and tried to cut him with a knife at about 8 p.m. Thursday in the Wal-Mart at 800 Commerce Ave. The robbers got away with two large televisions valued at just under $350 each, Lt. Samuel Joseph said.

Sgt. Dick Wisdom told the Merced Sun-Star that police are looking into the possibility the same two men also may have stolen two other televisions from the store a day earlier.

Police said the robbers went to the electronics section of the store, picked up the televisions and started walking out, toward the garden department. The male clerk stopped the two men and the confrontation quickly turned physical, police said.

One man tried to stab the clerk with a knife and his accomplice punched the victim in the face.

Officers said the clerk apparently lost consciousness after the assault. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

“Both (robbers) ran out of the store without making any attempt to pay for the items. They ran to a waiting van and left the area traveling west on Commerce Avenue,” Joseph said in an emailed statement. “The van was a white Mazda older model van with gray paint damage to the passenger side and roof. There were no license plates on the front or back of the vehicle.”

Police said one robber was wearing a black jacket and black pants. The other was wearing a gray shirt and tan shorts. Officers said both men were Latino.

This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Atwater Wal-Mart robbers take TVs, punch clerk."