Teen Bit Store Clerk’s Face, Allegedly Played With Blood After Attempted Theft

A teenager from Massachusetts was accused of assaulting a gas station store clerk and biting a portion of his face after the latter stopped him from stealing a drink from the cooler.

Joel Davila, 19, of Taunton, pleaded not guilty to the charges of assault with intent to maim and mayhem in the district court Tuesday, regarding an incident that took place the previous day around 11:30 p.m. EDT at a Sunoco gas station. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found an unidentified 55-year-old male clerk bleeding profusely from a gash below his left eye. The suspect was sitting cross-legged on the ground, with his hands behind his back and his face covered in blood, CW-affiliated WHDH reported.

The victim was rushed to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

When investigators analyzed the CCTV footage from the store, they discovered that Davila was trying to steal a bottled beverage from the cooler inside the store. In order to stop the teen from doing so, the store clerk put his arm across the cooler door. A struggle ensued and the suspect bit the victim’s elbow and then his face.

Michael Keegan, who witnessed the incident and also prevented Davila from fleeing the scene, mistakenly referred to the suspect as a girl while testifying before the court. "She spit the piece out on the floor," Keegan said, NBC-affiliated NECN reported. "And then she said, 'I don't eat flesh, I drink blood.' I told her she wasn't going anywhere, and she hissed at me like a feral cat.”

The witness added that Davila sat down next to the pool of the victim’s blood on the floor and started rubbing it with his fingers as if he was painting. "She had played finger-paints in it, and she licked it and put it all over her face," Keegan said. "And I was just like, 'Wow.'”

Before being arrested Tuesday, the suspect was kept overnight at a local hospital for psychological evaluation. A court psychologist testified during his arraignment, saying the teen was on anti-psychotic medication and believed he has schizophrenia. "All in all, his background is notable for very much adversity in his developmental years... and emergent psychosis," the psychologist said.

Standing before the judge, Davila smiled and blew a kiss to his family members, as prosecutor Kristen Sylvia recounted his behavior after being arrested by the police. “Officers did see a missing piece of flesh off the store clerk’s eye. They asked the defendant if he knew a significant amount of flesh was missing,” Sylvia told the court. “The defendant said, ‘I think I ate it. You can look in my stomach and check.’”

The accused’s grandmother also testified before the court, saying that while she could not elaborate on Davila’s mental condition, she wanted to apologize for his alleged actions. "I do apologize and I hope he recovers soon," Davila's grandmother said of the victim.

Davila, who was known to the store clerk for allegedly having had shoplifted in the past, was being held without bail. He was scheduled to be back in court for a competency hearing, May 17.