WASHINGTON — The police are looking for a man they say hit a store clerk with the claw end of a hammer at an outlet mall in Leesburg, Virginia on Tuesday.
The Leesburg police say around 6:30 p.m., a clerk at the Polo Ralph Lauren store at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets was escorting the suspect to a fitting room when the suspect hit the clerk in the neck with the claw end of the hammer, causing two puncture wounds. The suspect then ran off.
The victim, an 18-year-old man, is in stable condition at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
“The victim is telling us, he as no idea who the person is who did this or why this would have happened,” says Lt. Jeff Dube with Leesburg Police.
The suspect is described as a white man in his early 20s, between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 11 inches, and between 155 and 165 pounds. He was wearing tan shorts, dark socks, brown shoes, a green and orange plaid shirt and a green and white hat with a white emblem on the front of it and sunglasses.
Investigators are working with other stores nearby to obtain more surveillance video but ask anyone shopping or working nearby call them if they noticed the man.
It’s too early to tell if this incident was random but say shoppers should feel safe going to the outlet mall and that police will routinely be visiting the area on patrol, Dube says.
If you know anything about the incident, the police ask you to call them at 703-771-4500, or anonymously at 703-443-TIPS (8477). You can also text LPDTIP plus your tip to 274637.
