Man caught on video stabbing Miami gas station clerk

A man has been arrested in Miami on attempted murder and other felony counts after being caught on surveillance video repeatedly stabbing a gas station clerk who confronted him about shoplifting, police said.

Billy Joe Martin, 39, from Phoenix, was taken into custody Monday and booked into the Miami-Dade County jail on charges of attempted felony murder, armed robbery, burglary with assault or battery and battery on a law enforcement officer.

The brutal attack unfolded around 1 p.m. Monday at the Mobil gas station in the 570 block of NW 79th Street in Miami, where an employee working the counter allegedly spotted Martin grabbing a beer can from a refrigerator and slipping it into his pocket.

According to an arrest report cited by NBC Miami, the store clerk walked up to Martin, asking him, “What did you put in your pocket?”

The question allegedly caused the accused shoplifter to fly into a rage, first punching and then stabbing the clerk, repeatedly plunging a knife into the victim’s back and face.

Surveillance video from the store captured the horrific attack and the victim’s efforts to fight off the assailant, who also grabbed a pack of Newport cigarettes during the bloody melee.

Despite suffering serious injuries, the wounded clerk was able to lock the store to prevent Martin from fleeing, and then locked himself inside the area reserved for the cashier, WSVN reported.

When police responded to the scene, they arrested Martin and placed him in the back of a patrol car, where he started ramming his head against the Plexiglas partition, according to the arrest report.

The suspect later allegedly spat at a police officer and yelled racial and ethnic epithets at him.

The clerk was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital to be treated for multiple stab wounds. He was listed in stable condition and was expected to recover.

Martin made his initial court appearance Tuesday and was ordered to stay 500 feet away from the victim. He remained jailed without bond as of Wednesday.