Walmart worker slashed during violent robbery in Northeast Philadelphia

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Police are searching for a robber, caught on camera, who slashed a Walmart worker on his way out the door with a stolen TV.

It happened at 1:30 a.m. Friday at the Walmart store at the Philadelphia Mills Mall on Byberry Road in Northeast Philadelphia.

Surveillance cameras caught the suspect entering the store, which is open 24 hours a day. About 20 customers and 30 employees were there at the time.

Police say the man tried to leave the Walmart with a shopping cart filled with two boxes of boots and a Sony 42-inch flat screen television set worth approximately $400.

When the cashier asked to see a receipt, the suspect showed him an old receipt for something valued at $10.

Then things became confrontational.

The suspect tried to leave with the TV, and the employee tried to grab it. As they were struggling, the cashier told police, the suspect said, "Let it go or I will kill you."

Police say the suspect pulled a folding knife from his pocket and lunged toward the cashier, trying to stab him in the chest.

The cashier blocked the knife with his forearm and suffered a puncture wound and a laceration.

The suspect ran out of the store with the TV, and a customer chased after him on foot in the parking lot.

The customer grabbed a shopping cart and attempted to ram the suspect's car.

The man made a left on Franklin Mills Boulevard and was gone.

Police say the suspect fled in a light-colored hatchback sedan and remains at large.

He did leave behind those boxes of boots, so they were dusted for fingerprints.

The worker was treated on the scene for the wound to his arm. He is expected to be okay.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect from the surveillance pictures is urged to contact Philadelphia police.