Store clerk tries to run from man stabbing her but slips and falls, Florida cops say

A clerk slipped and fell as she ran from a man who started stabbing her in a convenience store, according to Florida police.

The clerk was getting ready to stock shelves on May 8 at around 4:40 a.m. at a RaceTrac in Davenport when the man approached her from behind and started “repeatedly stabbing her in the back and side,” according to a post on the Davenport Police Department Facebook page.

She tried to run away but slipped and fell, the post says.

While she was on the ground, he continued to stab her “several more times” in the chest, according to the police department.

She was eventually able to fight him off, and he fled into woods nearby, the post says.

Other clerks in the store heard her screams but didn’t see the attack, according to police. They gave her aid until emergency responders arrived and took her to a hospital.

She had nine stab wounds, the post says. The woman, who was not identified, was being treated at a hospital and was expected to survive.

Officers found the man in the wooded area and arrested him, according to the post.

Marc Caseaf Tucker, 29, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, according to police.

Information on the man’s bond was not available in Polk County jail records.

“This was simply an unprovoked, random attack for no apparent reason other than the suspect… committing an evil act,” Davenport Police Chief Steve Parker said in a statement. “The fact that the store clerk resisted and fought her attacker certainly facilitated her survival.”

Davenport is about 35 miles southwest of Orlando.