Man arrested for pulling knife on Walmart employees

Dominic Abeita, 31, of Albuquerque, was arrested Dec. 6 at Walmart on Unser Blvd. for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Officers responded to a call of an armed subject where the caller said a man threatened employees with a knife and walked out of the store and left in a Chevy Sonic east on Southern Blvd.

Officers quickly found the vehicle and performed a traffic stop on the north side of Chilis and detained Abeita.

He told police that he was checking out at Walmart self-checkout when an employee approached him, which made him feel singled out. He added that he paid for all his items and did not like how the employee approached him. He admitted that he had a knife but denied ever taking it out and threatening anyone.

Officers went back to Walmart with Abeita in tow.

One of the victims stated that they approached Abeita because they received an alert that Abeita’s items were bagged but not scanned. The victim said Abeita argued with them and told them to leave him alone or else he was going to stab them.

As they continued to argue, another customer intervened. As the customer and Abeita started to argue, the employee said they saw Abeita pull out a blue and silver pocket knife. The employee grabbed the customer and backed away because they feared being stabbed and then called 911.

The knife was found on the floorboard of the Chevy.

Abeita will face three years in prison if convicted.