AUSTIN, Texas – A Central Texas man filed a lawsuit against H-E-B after he was stabbed at an Austin store while he worked as security there.
The lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the James Wood Law Firm claims that H-E-B was negligent in the situation that resulted in Luke Werner’s injuries, and the San Antonio-based grocery chain did not provide workers’ compensation benefits for his injuries.
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It adds that Werner — who is Bastrop County Sheriff’s deputy but worked as an off-duty police officer for H-E-B security — suffers permanent scarring, “as well as lifelong mental anguish and emotional distress.”
The stabbing happened on Nov. 12 at an H-E-B store in the 2300 block of East Riverside Drive in Austin.
Austin police said the suspect, Jaime Eliseo Canales, shoplifted at the store and was approached by loss prevention employees.
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The lawsuit states Canales started “causing trouble” at around 10:30 a.m. by becoming “erratic” and yelling he was a “diplomat” with the right to steal.
Store employees made their first call to 911 at 10:43 a.m., the lawsuit states. At 11:22 a.m., Canales was still inside the store and spit on an employee’s face.
When Werner clocked in at around 11:30 a.m., the loss prevention manager approached Werner and walked him directly to Canales.
“The Loss Prevention Manager knew that Canales was imminently dangerous, and also knew that Canales was already surrounded by other H-E-B security team members who were armed with Tasers that could have been used to temporarily incapacitate Canales and diffuse the crisis,” the lawsuit states.
Canales ended up stabbing Werner multiple times, including in the neck, police said. The lawsuit added that one stab wound was a half-millimeter from Werner’s carotid artery.
Canales was arrested by Austin police at the scene and charged with attempted capital murder of a peace officer.
The lawsuit alleges that H-E-B was aware of the risk by Canales and “had plenty of employees on hand to evaluate and determine the situation was extremely dangerous.”
It added that off-duty officers have limited capabilities when enforcing the law and the store is under Austin police’s jurisdiction. Because Werner has a peace officer’s license in another county, he was outside of his jurisdiction.
“The records prove that H-E-B should have put the matter into the hands of the on-duty police officers of the Austin Police Department,” it states.
It adds that Werner is “personally liable” for medical expenses.
The lawsuit states that Werner, a father of three, is seeking compensation for medical expenses, both past and future; loss of wages, both past and future; mental anguish; and out-of-pocket expenses, among other areas.
“We support our peace officers, and this party is welcome to contact us if they would like to engage in further discussion. The officer was acting in his official capacity at the time of the incident,” wrote H-E-B spokesperson Dya Campos in a statement in response to a KSAT inquiry.