A scary situation unfolded Saturday at a local Dollar General.
A grandmother came and told the employee that a man was following her.
The employee said she was panicking.
“She tells me in Spanish that a man is following her," the Dollar General employee said.
She said the man pulled up and left his car running. He got out and entered the Dollar General on East Fifth St.
He began asking the employee questions. He felt the granddaughter didn't belong to the grandmother, but the employee assured him, but he persisted. She said the grandmother was scared.
“She is behind me. He comes to move around. She is holding on to me and you could feel the terror," she said.
She pushed the panic button located in the store. She said the woman also handed her phone to her. She was on the line with dispatch.
Moments later, she made a split-second decision to put the grandmother and her granddaughter in an employee-only area.
“If I put them back there, he has no business to go past that first bathroom area," she said.
He later went past the bathrooms. She then stepped in front of him and stopped him from getting closer.
“I put my hand up to say I need you to back up. He pushes my arm up and comes towards me," the employee said.
She said she hung on to the door as tightly as she could, but the man kept pushing her. She tried to restrain him multiple times, but he kept trying to get through the door.
“Stop like I am telling him, bro, stop. Okay, stop, you need to stop. Can you back off? Let’s stop," she told the man.
The employee said people were waiting in line. Some decided to stay and watch the situation. Many put their items back and left. She said she asked for help, but no one responded except one lady. She asked him a question and took his attention away for a second.
“It stopped. He snapped out of it and kept running to rush me again," she said.
Law enforcement arrived on the scene shortly after. They detained the man, later identified as Derrick Ross. He was charged with burglary with assault or battery. He was later bonded out hours later.
