The boy tried to run away several times after stealing a chocolate bar. A quick-witted reflex by the employee may have prevented a far more serious case when the 14-year-old tried to pull the huge knife out of his trouser waistband.
AROUND: The dramatic episode took place at Rema 1000 in Tollbugata earlier this week. Assistant store manager Brede had little idea of what awaited when he stopped by the workplace in his spare time to shop for the sports team he is part of.
– I had my son with me and had actually finished the action when I noticed a gang of youths with someone I suspected of stealing and got a bad feeling in my stomach. One of them went in, and I followed from the parking lot to keep up a bit. Then I discovered that he stole a bar of chocolate, and went out past the tills without paying for himself, says Brede.
He stopped the young chocolate thief and confronted him about the nag, then asked if he could stay up in the office.
– I was really just going to get the chocolate bar back, and ask him not to show up here again. But after he first said yes, he took two steps with me before trying to run away. I was able to hold him again, but he was completely rabid and tried to run away several times while I was talking to the police on the phone, says Brede.
– Eventually I got him up and in front of me into the hall so I had some control over him, says Brede – before the situation suddenly took a far more dramatic turn.
– Then I saw that a knife was sticking out of his bushelwaist, and when I discovered it he was trying to pull the knife up with his right hand. I just managed to stop him and get his arm away, before I got the knife out of his trousers and put it away, says Brede.
A half meter murder weapon
He says he was shocked by what he saw. Soon after, the police arrived at the scene, and seized what they should have characterized as a machete due to its size.
– It looked simply brutal, says Brede.
Only the knife blade alone measured 39 centimeters – with the handle we’re talking almost half a meter knife, of a design that has no other logical use whatsoever than to do the most possible damage to a victim.
– From others who overheard the others from the gang standing outside, I heard that I was going to be beaten when I came back out. I wasn’t really worried about it right then as the police were there. But this tells a bit about what these young people can come up with. I don’t dare think about what could have happened, he says.
The young people in question all have an immigrant background and are in their mid-teens.
The police have confirmed the incident and that the boy was taken home to his parents afterwards. The boy is reported for both the theft and carrying a knife in a public place, but is under the criminal minimum age and therefore cannot be punished.
– A growing problem
Together with his brother, Brede runs the Rema shop at Rundtomsvingen, and constantly experiences challenges with shoplifting and theft. Shoplifters are caught several times a week, but there is one category in particular that poses a major problem, according to shop manager Jørund Martinsen.
– They are the criminal youth gangs with an immigrant background. They have no respect, stand up physically as counter-guards and we experience a lot of threats, says a frustrated Martinsen.
He says that the trend is only getting worse and worse.
– Here, Drammen and Tollbugata have a problem that someone must address. Norway and the politicians must wake up, is the message from the store manager.
