FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — A man accused of stealing tip jars from a Fresno restaurant on Tuesday and injuring an employee with a screwdriver during the confrontation has been arrested.
Police responded to the restaurant near Fresno Street and North Friant just before 8 p.m. for the report of a theft.
While en route, they learned the suspect may be armed with a knife and/or screwdriver that was used to injure an employee, elevating the crime from theft to a robbery.
The employee told officers the suspect grabbed two tip jars from the front counter and started walking out the front door.
The employee grabbed the suspect’s shirt and told him to drop the money.
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That’s when he said the suspect raised a screwdriver over his head and made a stabbing motion toward the employee.
The screwdriver slipped through the suspect’s hand and slightly scratched the employee’s right shoulder before the suspect left the location.
A responding officer spotted a person matching the suspect’s description under the underpass of Friant and attempted to make contact.
The officer said the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Lawrence Oliver Cuff, was combative and refused to comply.
During that time, police said Cuff ran from officers, took a fighting stance, pushed officers, attempted to take gear from officers’ load-bearing vest, and swung at officers.
Officers tased Cuff multiple times, but the Taser had no effect, police said.
Cuff then ran to a nearby shopping center at Nees Avenue and Blackstone Avenue, which was heavily populated due to a weekly farmers market, before officers successfully detained him.
During the investigation, Cuff was positively identified as the suspect in the robbery, police said.
He was arrested and booked into the Fresno County Jail on multiple charges, including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and resisting or delaying an officer.