BELLEVUE — A grocery store employee who stabbed a shoplifting suspect was defending himself after being hit in the head with a bottle, Bellevue police said Thursday.
The 37-year-old suspect was stabbed multiple times and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with life-threatening injuries, police spokesman Seth Tyler said. He is accused of shoplifting liquor and a basket of items about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown Safeway.
The employee is a man in his 40s who was hit in the store when he confronted the suspect. He chased the suspect to a parking lot where they fought and the suspect was stabbed with a knife belonging to the employee, Tyler said.
The employee returned to the store, where he was questioned by detectives and allowed to go free because it “appears to be a case of self-defense,” Tyler said Thursday.