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Safeway clerk who punched man in alleged self-defense suspended by store

TACOMA, Wash. — A Safeway clerk who says he punched a man in self-defense has been suspended by the supermarket chain.

Surveillance video obtained by KIRO 7 shows Anthony Johnson in a fight with a man he says pulled a knife on him.

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“I did what anybody else would do, I defended myself,” Johnson said.

But Johnson says even though police agree he was acting in self-defense, Safeway has suspended him for the fight while they investigate the incident.

"You know my manager was literally there," Johnson said. "He was the one who told me there was a knife being drawn. Why should I be punished for something that I could have been sent to the hospital, maybe to my grave, for?"

PHOTOS: Frame-by-frame of clerk's fight in Safeway

It was Thursday when Johnson said he caught two men inside the store in the 6000 block of 6th Avenue trying to steal things several different times. When he found the men back in the store around 10 p.m., he confronted them along with his manager. As they were trying to get the men to leave, one of them drew a knife.

"I looked down, he had the knife like this, pointed up. He was this close to my ribs," Johnson said. "I punched the guy. I tried to get the knife away from him."

The video shows Johnson knocking the man away from him and wrestling him for the weapon. Johnson says he managed to get the knife away and the men ran off.

He filed a report with the Tacoma Police Department. Police spokeswoman Officer Shelby Boyd said officers found no reason to charge Johnson with a crime because he acted in self-defense.

Johnson says he's angry that Safeway isn't allowing him to get back to work.

“Now I’m getting punished for a deadly situation? That’s just wrong,” Johnson said.

KIRO 7 called the media representative at Safeway’s headquarters in Pleasanton, California, for comment on the incident and the suspension. The call was not returned.

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