CAL Ranch employee stabbed after trying to stop thief, police say
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BLACKFOOT — A man was arrested on Friday after he reportedly stabbed an employee at CAL Ranch in Blackfoot.
Officers were called to the store on 250 North Meridian Street around 1:50 p.m., according to a news release from the Blackfoot Police Department.
Dispatchers told officers that an employee had reportedly been stabbed and the suspect left the store on foot.
Officers received a description of the suspect and found a man who matched it. When police tried to stop him, the suspect reportedly ran, but was soon caught and taken into custody.
He was identified as 35-year-old Alphonso E. Chacon.
Officers and detectives with the Bingham Joint Investigation Unit interviewed the victim and witnesses, and learned that Chacon had allegedly stolen merchandise from the store.
Two employees who witnessed the alleged theft tried to stop him from leaving, resulting in Chacon stabbing one of them in the right bicep with a small knife. The employee was treated at the scene for an injury that was not considered life-threatening.
Chacon was booked into the Bingham County Jail on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, burglary, and resisting and obstructing officers. He has not yet hired or appointed an attorney,
Though Chacon has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.