George Scariano said his Downtown Austin grocery store is in a terrible cycle of crime.
Earlier this month, surveillance video captured an apparent attack that erupted outside of the Royal Blue Grocery on Congress Avenue.
It shows Scariano approaching a man after he had pulled up a chair. Scariano said he had asked the man if he was a customer, – and that's when Scariano said the man blew up on him.
"He tried to spit on me, challenged me physically," Scariano said.
The situation escalated when Scariano said he tried to get him to leave, which led to a small crowd forming and several people attempting to pull the man off of Scariano.
"He turned around, assaulted me, he headbutted me, and I tackled him and we held him down," Scariano said.
Austin police responded and said George Martin Jr. was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault with injury and criminal trespass. He remains at the Travis County Jail.
Scariano said the alleged assault left him with injuries, but unfortunately, it's another crime added to a laundry list of troubles the store has faced.
Scariano and Craig Staley run seven of the Royal Blue Groceries scattered across Downtown Austin. In July, KVUE interviewed Staley after a series of burglaries were committed by a repeat offender. Scariano said he and Staley have been trying to put a spotlight on the issue and gain help from the city.
"The solution needs to be all of us working together towards a shared goal. [We've] been working exhaustively on this for years and it's demoralizing," Scariano said.
