Two Adults and Three Minors Attack 7-Eleven Worker for Refusing to Sell Cigars to Minor

Five suspects were charged after physically assaulting a Texas 7-Eleven employee who refused to sell a tobacco product to a minor.

Video footage shows one of the assailants jumping on top of the counter and throwing miscellaneous items at the worker, Fox 4 News reported. Two of the suspects jumped behind the register and one was hitting the worker.

Authorities responded to the June 3 incident at the Mesquite store — a 20-minute drive from Dallas —  and arrested two adults and three minors.

Kiara Beal, 21, was charged with assault with bodily harm, and Ahliyah Turner, 19, faced charges due to an existing warrant.

The three minors are charged with two counts of assault, criminal mischief, and theft.

The two female employees who were assaulted suffered minor injuries.

The arrests come just after Dallas Police Department records revealed that youth arrests in February and March rose compared to last year, NBCDFW reported.

“February 2022 saw 80 arrests and there were 85 arrests in February of 2023,” the outlet reported. “March 2022 saw 89 arrests and there were 107 arrests in March of 2023.”

Crime Stoppers Houston CEO Rania Mankarious said it is crucial to start to ‘bridge the gap’ with youth.

“We notice teens are spending more time on their devices,” Mankarious told the NBC affiliate. “They are consuming a lot of hateful content, a lot of violent content. They feel a bit disconnected from family and community and they are acting out more aggressively.”

Nationwide, youth violence began to spike in 2020 after a decades-long downward trend, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice. Homicide committed by multiple minors increased by 66% in 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported. Authorities and community groups attribute the rise in violence to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns which exacerbated mental health issues.

In Rock Island County, Illinois, gun-related cases involving minors doubled in 2022 compared to 2020. Dora Villarreal, a prosecutor in the county, told the Wall Street Journal this rise in youth violence is a ripple effect of the pandemic.

“During Covid, without school being a constant kind of stabilizing structure for many of our kids, that has helped lead unfortunately to this rise in violent crime,” she said.