DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Surveillance video from inside a Family Dollar store shows someone beating up a Dekalb County minister. Police are searching for the suspect.
“We got to get this guy off the street,” Lonnie Robinson said.
Robinson is a gospel musician and minister for several churches around metro-Atlanta.
He said he stopped in to pick something up at the Family Dollar in the Bouldercrest Plaza Shopping Center around 3 p.m. on May 12.
When he walked in, he said a customer at the register was having issues paying with his card.
“Young lady kept trying to work with him, and I’m just standing there patiently. I wasn’t saying anything. As time went on, she was like, ‘Well, OK, I’m having problems with your card. Let me just go ahead and get this gentleman,’” Robinson said.
Robinson said she started to work on his transaction but needed a barcode.
“She started ringing up my item, but for some reason there wasn’t no price on it. So, she called to the manager, ‘I need a price.’ He said, ‘OK, I’ll text it to you real quick,’” Robinson told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco.
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Robinson said the cashier began trying to ring up the customer with the card issues again instead.
“I said, ‘Excuse me, you was ringing mine up. Why would you stop, you know, in the middle of the process?’” Robinson said.
That’s when he said the other customer told him to mind his own business and began punching him repeatedly.
“This kind of vicious attack, if he did it to me, he’ll do it to somebody else,” Robinson said.
He said the assault left him with cuts and bruises on his face and back, and it could have been worse.
“I’ve had two heart attacks and open-heart surgery,” Robinson said.
He said he can’t escape flashbacks of the fight.
“That’s the worst part of it. I feel totally violated, you know?” Robinson said.
Family Dollar has not yet responded to Francisco’s emails and calls about the attack inside the store.
Police said they are still searching for the suspect, and Robinson said he does not feel safe anymore.
“I don’t,” Robinson said. “I want to look for another place to move to because I’m too close to that area over there.”
Investigators said if you recognize the man throwing punches in the video, you could get a cash reward if you turn him in, officers arrest him, and it leads to felony charges.
You must submit a tip through DeKalb County Crime Stoppers. You can remain anonymous.
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