‘People are just so angry’: Police looking for man who assaulted Walgreens customer, called him slur

PENN HILLS — Police are searching for a man seen on surveillance video brutally assaulting a customer at a local Walgreens and calling him a racial slur. Witnesses say the man was beaten so badly, his eye was the size of a golf ball.  Sources told Channel 11 his injury is so severe, he might lose sight in the eye.

“It’s a tragedy, you don’t think going to a store it could even happen,” Joseph Miklos told Channel 11.

The assault happened March 26 at the Walgreens at the intersection of Saltsburg Road and Leechburg Road in Penn Hills. Witnesses say a man barreled into the store and beat another customer to the ground, kicking him in the eye with his boots, calling him a racial slur and throwing a bag of Cheetos at him. One witness says the victim’s eye was the size of a tennis ball.

“That’s crazy, I can’t even believe it, I know a person who works at the Walgreens, actually,” Zachary Miklos told Channel 11.

Witnesses told Channel 11 the victim said something to the woman in passing and minutes later, her husband returned ready to fight.

“People are angry about everything,” Miklos added. “The cost of stuff and being cooped up, and now you’re out and the littlest things throw you over.”

Witnesses say the suspect is 6 feet, 1-2 inches tall and weighs about 300 pounds,  with a beard.  They believe he left the Walgreens in a black pickup truck headed toward Stotler Road.

Major investments and developments coming to downtown Pittsburgh after pandemic challenges

©2022 Cox Media Group