Longs employee struck down by car after possible robbery
By Kate Carter
A possible thwarted robbery at the Argonaut Center Longs drugstore April 30 turned into a parking lot assault when a management trainee was struck by the car driven by suspicious shoppers he'd followed out.
Scott Chen, 23, of Cupertino, was released from the Community Hospital of Los Gatos the following day to recuperate from a fractured leg and "bumps and bruises," store manager Bill Drewes said.
Drewes said Chen was the manager on duty at the store when, at about 8:45 p.m., he noticed three males he suspected might have been shoplifting. Chen followed them as they left the store, intending to take down the license plate number and make and model of the car. As he did so, however, the car struck him down, Drewes said.
The suspects left the store without any merchandise "that we know of," Drewes said.
However, in a sheriff's report of the incident, Santa Clara County Sheriff Capt. Dennis Bacon said an unidentified Longs employee saw the three suspects putting items from the store's over-the-counter medicine section in their pockets.
After leaving the store, Bacon said, one of the suspects entered the adjacent Safeway grocery store, while the other two entered a white Toyota Echo. When the suspect came out of the Safeway and entered the car, the driver then ran into Chen, Bacon said. The suspicion is that the incident was intentional, he said, and would be considered an assault with a deadly weapon. Law enforcement has the vehicle's license plate number, he said, and the investigation is ongoing.
Drewes said that the store has been experiencing an increase in shoplifting over the past two months and that the three men could possibly have been individuals suspected of shoplifting in the past. He pointed out that in his 22 years at the Saratoga Longs, he has "never seen anything like this."
Drewes said Chen had been at the Argonaut Center Longs as a management trainee for about a year and a half, after transferring from another Longs location. He said Longs employees are generally instructed to dial 911 if they see any suspicious activity and be prepared to give descriptions to the police.
"Ideally, he should not have left the store," Drewes said of Chen. "But sometimes, you can't follow the ideal way."
One of the suspects is described as a Hispanic male, 26 to 27 years old, 5 foot 7 inches tall, with an average build. He has dark brown hair shaved around the bottom, with the rest pulled into a high ponytail.
Another suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 24 to 25 years old, 5 foot 7 inches tall, with a slender build. He has dark skin, with dark brown hair feathered at the sides.
The third suspect, the driver, is described only as having brown hair.
To provide information about the case, call Det. Randy Bynum at 408.299.2211.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
