A man and woman are now in custody in connection to the attack, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said Friday. They were recognized around 4:30 p.m. by North Coastal Station Deputies as the couple drove away from a Walmart on Leucadia Boulevard.
The deputies conducted a traffic stop on their vehicle and confirmed the occupants were the same as in the San Marcos surveillance video.
The male suspect has been identified as 32-year-old Fredrick Cato from Carlsbad. Cato was arrested for 245(a)(1) PC-Assault Likely to Cause Great Bodily Injury and 3056 PC-Parole Hold. He is being booked into the Vista Detention Facility. The female was questioned and released.
San Diego law enforcement officials released the surveillance video, which shows the grisly beating of a gas station employee, in hopes that it would help them find the attacker.
The attack happened last Wednesday at about 8:15 p.m. at the Chevron Gas Station, located at 1200 W. San Marcos Boulevard in San Marcos, according to a release by San Diego County Crime Stoppers.
"An unknown Black male entered the gas station and immediately punched the clerk several times, knocking him to the ground," law officials said.
"The clerk hit his head on the floor and was knocked unconscious. The suspect then kicked the unconscious clerk on the side of the head and was last seen getting into the passenger’s side of a light colored sedan," the release said.
A woman, who had previously entered the gas station to purchase beer, was the driver of the vehicle drove away with the suspect, according to officials.
The clerk suffered bruising and swelling to the right side of his face, a cut on the back of his head that required staples, and bleeding inside his skull on the left side of his brain.
The investigation is ongoing.
