CVS employee charged with murder after suspected serial shoplifter allegedly attacked him: Report

A New York City CVS employee is facing multiple charges, including murder, after engaging with a homeless man he suspected of shoplifting.

Just before 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, 46-year-old Scotty Enoe was stocking shelves when he spotted a man he believed to be stealing some Gatorade and creamer from a CVS store in Midtown Manhattan. The 50-year-old suspect, Charles Brito, supposedly had a reputation for thieving from local drug stores.

"That’s his MO, he targets CVS and Walgreens," a police source said, according to the New York Post.

Reports claim that Enoe confronted Brito, who responded by punching Enoe in the face. Enoe then allegedly drew a knife and stabbed his attacker in the torso eight times. Police soon arrived after receiving a call about a robbery in progress, but Brito was already injured by that time. He was then raced to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

Modo Gui, a street vendor who witnessed the fatal encounter from across the street, seemed to point the blame at Brito, who had a dozen prior arrests for shoplifting. "It was a homeless guy. He had a big problem with the security guard with the CVS," Gui said. "They fought, and he stabbed him. Boom. Stabbed him dead. It’s crazy."

There is no surveillance footage of the incident since it occurred outdoors just outside the range of store cameras.

Enoe, an immigrant from Grenada with no criminal record, was arrested and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. A spokesperson for the NYPD said that the "investigation remains ongoing."

Enoe's friends and family have rushed to his defense, telling various news outlets that he acted in self-defense. "It’s frustrating and depressing that my son has been charged. My son was defending himself," said his mother, 72-year-old Lucille Enoe, who also expressed sorrow for the man's death. "I feel very sad about the man even though he attacked my son," she said. "I feel sad that he died."

Enoe’s friend, Wayne Augustine, insisted the stabbing must have been in self-defense since "Scotty’s not an aggressive or violent person."

Other workers in the area claimed that shoplifting has become a major problem in the last few years, especially on account of the growing homeless population. "They just come in and take stuff because they know we’re not allowed to do nothing," said Carlos Santos, a security guard who works for another local business.

"Sometimes there are times where people want to be extra obnoxious, and they want to do it anyways in front of our faces," said an individual who works next door to the CVS. "So it’s like, what can we do? Go ahead and hit him? Stab him?"

Outside a Lower Manhattan courthouse on Friday, Enoe's attorney, Adam Freedman, also noted that there seems to "be a problem citywide with the shoplifting" and that six of the eight wounds inflicted on Brito were "superficial." "You can get stabbed and still be attacking somebody," Freeman claimed.

Enoe's bond was set at $100,000. He is scheduled to appear in court again on July 20.

CVS did not respond to a request for comment from the Post, and a store manager declined a request for comment from the New York Daily News.

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