Police say customer hit employee with sledgehammer, victim seriously injured

Durham police say a customer attacked a Lowe’s employee with a sledgehammer.

Around 9 p.m. on Saturday, officers responded to a reported assault at a Lowe’s hardware store in the 4400 block of Fayetteville Road.

Police say outside cameras recorded a man taking a sledgehammer out of his cart and striking an elderly employee . The employee fell to the ground, and the man accused of hitting him is seen running out of the store with a drill set box in his hands.

An employee told WRAL News it’s been hard for him to walk into this store since this happened. He asked that his identity be hidden out of fear of losing his job.

“I didn’t realize until I stepped a little closer and saw he was in a red vest and lying in his pool of blood from his injury. It was shocking and very scary,” said an employee who wished to remain anonymous. He expressed unease about coming to work due to safety concerns.

He also mentioned that the police were not immediately called when the incident occurred on Saturday.

“The managers were even reluctant to call 911. Yes, I believe the Good Samaritan who was attending to John was the one who made the call,” he said.

This employee claimed that managers hesitated because of a store policy that discourages calling the police about shoplifters.

“We could lose our job,” he added.

While he doesn’t want to get fired, he wants to protect the store and its customers.

“It’s disconcerting and scary to know that we don’t have immediate help if we need it. I myself have encountered many shoplifters, and you never know how they’re going to respond or react.”

EMS responded, and the victim was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

The victim’s condition is now stable. Investigators have obtained warrants in this case.

WRAL News sent an email to Lowe’s corporate media relations line, asking: Is there a policy at your stores that instructs employees to avoid calling 911? If not, what is the policy?

Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Blake at 919-560-4440 ext. 29282 or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.

In October 2022 Gary Rasor, an 82-year-old Home Depot employee in Hillsborough, was seriously injured when a shoplifter shoved him to the concrete floor. Rasor, who was well known at the store and called “Mr. Gary,” died weeks later at the hospital.

Surveillance footage shows the thief walking past Gary and pushing him down on his way out the door of the garden center with stolen merchandise on his cart.

Terry McAnthony McMillian Jr., 26, of Durham, was charged with first-degree murder and robbery.