By Christine Reid
Camera Staff Writer

LONGMONT — A teenage runaway was arrested Tuesday for suspicion of shoplifting and stabbing two King Soopers employees early Monday morning.

The 17-year-old girl, who was not identified by police because she is a minor, ran away Sunday from a home in Fort Collins where she had been placed by social services.

She faces possible multiple charges of first-degree assault, felony menacing and aggravated robbery and theft. Luke Vincent, 22, and Richard Brookman, 51, were injured around 7 a.m. in the store, 2255 Main St., when the girl began slashing and lunging at them with a 1-foot-long military combat knife. Both were taken to Longmont United Hospital for treatment. Neither man's injuries was thought to be life-threatening.

"They didn't anticipate any trouble, and then all of the sudden the knife was wielded at them," said Dave Savage, vice president of retail operations for King Soopers. "Unfortunately in today's world that happens."

The girl was observed walking out of the store with toiletry items she hadn't paid for when the two employees approached her and asked to talk, according to police.

Jebediah Musser, a 26-year-old transient man who was with her, left the store, authorities said.

Then the girl snapped, said Longmont Cmdr. Craig Earhart.

She ran off after the incident and was pursued by several King Soopers and Kmart employees, who kept police dispatch updated to her whereabouts using a cellular phone, police said.

An officer with a police dog found her two blocks away and ordered her to stop. She told the officer he would have to kill her and began to reach inside her coat, according to a police report.

Izzy, a German shepherd, was released and took the girl down near the Moose Lodge in the 2100 block of Terry Street. She received several severe bite wounds on her arm and was taken to Longmont United for treatment and to sober up from suspected methamphetamines use, Earhart said. Officials there expected her to stay overnight.

She is on probation for aggravated motor vehicle theft and two counts of theft, police reported.

Musser was later contacted by police and arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon — a knife stuffed in his boot — and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. Earhart said there was no indication he knew the girl was going to try to stab anyone.

Vincent suffered a deep puncture wound on his biceps. Brookman had cuts on his face from his eyeglasses that were broken during the struggle, and he also suffered from a small puncture wound on his side. Both were treated and released by Tuesday evening.

Contact reporter Christine Reid at (303) 473-1355 or reidc@thedailycamera.com.

May 22, 2002

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