Several employees were attacked at work

Sacramento, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A bail bondsman described by his coworkers as a “gentle giant” has died after being attacked by a client. He was one of several employees recently attacked on the job.

Kevin Brace, 56, was working the night shift at Greg Padilla Bail Bonds in downtown Sacramento when he was attacked at work.

“He wanted to work nights because he felt that people who were in jail overnight deserved to have a bail bondsman there for them,” Topo Padilla, co-owner of Greg Padilla Bail Bonds, told the media.

Officials said Brace was in the office watching a wrestling match shortly before 4 a.m. on June 3 when Jacob Levi Mandell knocked on the store’s glass doors. Mandell asked if he could use the phone.

Officials said a fight broke out between Mandell and Brace and that Mandell dragged Brace into the street and beat him to death.

Mandell was one of the company’s clients, Topo Padilla said. But, Padilla said, Brace’s death had nothing to do with Mandell’s previous dealings with the company. Padilla said Mandell was not angry when he confronted Brace about using the phone.

“My family has been in this business for over 50 years,” said Topo Padilla. “Something like this has never happened before.”

Police were called to the store because a fight had broken out in front of the store. Officials said Brace died at the scene after Sacramento firefighters attempted to rescue him.

“He made the fatal mistake of going too far to help someone,” Padilla said of Brace, calling him a “gentle giant.”

In Florida, a gas station employee was attacked in a locked restroom by a man with a box cutter.

According to police, the employee was working at a convenience store and gas station in Sanford, Florida, when a man entered the store.

According to the affidavit, the man, Randal Lee Lawton, 62, had come to the RaceTrac gas station earlier in the day but returned to buy coffee and cigarettes.

The victim told officers that Lawton went to the bathroom but came back out to ask for toilet paper. When the woman entered the bathroom to change the toilet paper, Lawton also entered the bathroom and locked the door behind them.

Lawton then allegedly put his hand over the woman’s mouth and threw her to the ground, according to arrest records. When the woman tried to flee, Lawton allegedly tried to slit her throat.

The woman said she fought back and grabbed the knife, cutting her hand, the report said. When police got to the gas station, they heard her screaming and broke into the restroom, where they found Lawton standing over the woman with a box cutter in his hand.

“(The woman) was covered in blood and had two deep cuts on her neck (and) multiple cuts on her left hand,” the affidavit states. Police said the victim had multiple cuts on her hand, two deep cuts under her chin and was missing a tooth.

Police arrested Lawton and took the woman to the hospital. Lawton is being held on $55,000 bail and his arraignment is scheduled for July 23.

In Carbondale, Illinois, police arrested a woman on June 3 after she reportedly assaulted an employee.

Carbondale police said they arrested Kodi Colbert, 33, of Carbondale, on charges of aggravated assault and criminal damage to property after being called to a business for a reported assault. Officers said when they arrived at the scene, they found an employee who had been assaulted. Colbert was identified as the prime suspect, although she left the scene, and was later arrested.

And in Dallas, police are trying to find the woman who allegedly attacked a restaurant employee.

According to police, the incident occurred on April 11 at the Burger King on the corner of Lancaster and East Ledbetter in Oak Cliff. Video of the incident showed the woman jumping over a barrier and stealing food before attacking the employee.

“She didn’t take any money, she tried to steal some food. Then they intervened and said, ‘Hey, you can’t steal the food.’ And then she picked up some things off the floor and left,” said Dallas Police Detective Darren Burch.

Police said the woman was a regular customer of the restaurant and are asking for help in identifying her.

“I need someone to say, ‘Hey, we know this person.’ Either they show them to me, or they put me in touch with them, or they contact me themselves and say, ‘Hey, this happened and let’s figure this out,'” Burch said.