AUSTIN, Texas — George Scariano said his Downtown Austin grocery store is in a terrible cycle of crime.
Earlier this month, surveillance video captured an apparent attack that erupted outside of the Royal Blue Grocery on Congress Avenue.
It shows Scariano approaching a man after he had pulled up a chair. Scariano said he had asked the man if he was a customer, – and that's when Scariano said the man blew up on him.
"He tried to spit on me, challenged me physically," Scariano said.
The situation escalated when Scariano said he tried to get him to leave, which led to a small crowd forming and several people attempting to pull the man off of Scariano.
"He turned around, assaulted me, he headbutted me, and I tackled him and we held him down," Scariano said.
Austin police responded and said George Martin Jr. was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault with injury and criminal trespass. He remains at the Travis County Jail.
Scariano said the alleged assault left him with injuries, but unfortunately, it's another crime added to a laundry list of troubles the store has faced.
Scariano and Craig Staley run seven of the Royal Blue Groceries scattered across Downtown Austin. In July, KVUE interviewed Staley after a series of burglaries were committed by a repeat offender. Scariano said he and Staley have been trying to put a spotlight on the issue and gain help from the city.
"The solution needs to be all of us working together towards a shared goal. [We've] been working exhaustively on this for years and it's demoralizing," Scariano said.
Scariano said he has reached out to Councilmember Zo Qadri multiple times to address the issues. Qadri's office says he's been working with Scariano on the issues and that the two have been in "frequent" contact.
Qadri's office says several priorities were discussed in recent Downtown Public Safety Meetings and funded through the new city budget, including more funding for the Mental Health Diversion program and the Homelessness Engagement Assistance Response Team (HEART).
"We are genuinely sorry that Mr. Scariano was assaulted - everyone deserves to have a safe experience downtown, whether they live there, work there, or are just visiting," a spokesperson with Qadri's office said. "That is something that we take incredibly seriously in this office. And any resident is always welcome to reach out and meet with our office about this issue or any other issue they may have - our door is always open."
Scariano said all of his stores are "under assault" and what they're looking for is more security. Scariano said Austin police help where they can, but they don't have the funds for a private security team.
The Downtown Austin Alliance has safety ambassadors that patrol the area, but the ambassadors are there to provide a safe presence and are not a replacement for law enforcement. They aren't equipped to handle incidents like the one Scariano faced.
"It shouldn't be as difficult as it is for us to do business," Scariano said. "We can't afford to get the losses that we do companywide with shoplifting, with staff turnover, with the violence that happens inside of our stores."
Scariano said he will keep pushing for help from the city, so he can keep serving the city of Austin.
"We're not quitting," Scariano said. "We're not selling and we love what we do. So we're here to stay as best we can and we need help."