WEBSTER, MASS. (WHDH) - A store owner took action and went after an attempted shoplifter at his liquor store in Webster.
On June 14 at around 10 p.m., Charles Meseck, 26, and another man entered Hank’s Package Store and allegedly tried to steal a bottle of wine. Police said the 59-year-old store owner caught Meseck trying to stuff the wine in his pants and confronted him. The owner called 911 and his employee said Meseck threatened to kill him.
Police said the store owner picked up an axe handle, which he kept behind the counter for protection, and Meseck attacked him. Surveillance video captured the entire fight between the two men; the owner was seen getting slammed to the ground and had a bottle of wine smashed over his head. Meseck then allegedly grabbed the axe handle away and hit the store owner with it.
Webster Police responded to the scene after getting a report of an assault. According to police, 911 dispatchers could hear a commotion on the end of the phone.
As police responded, they received a report of a male outside the store carrying what was believed to be a baseball bat covered in blood. Police tended to the store owner, who was injured in the fight, then a person called reporting someone had asked them for a ride and was covered in blood.
Meseck was then found in a shed next to Mohegan Bowling Alley and arrested. He was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with the intent to murder, larceny under $250, and malicious destruction over $250. He was arraigned Wednesday morning and is being held pending a dangerousness hearing.
The store owner was taken to the hospital, where he got stitches on his ear.
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