Three jumped outside Fayetteville Wal-Mart

FAYETTEVILLE Christian Munoz says a gang of men jumped them as they walked into the Super Wal-Mart on Skibo Road around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

"One of the guys came up to us, tried to pick pocket me," Munoz said. "Took my phone took my wallet. They threw me to the ground and out of nowhere about 14 guys, some of them coming out of their cars, just came out and they stomped me on the ground."

"Eventually one of them grabbed me by the back of my hair and started hitting me in the back of my head," victim Trevor Leddin said. "Someone else pulled my shirt over my head and started hitting me. Then my buddy picked up a bottle and hit one of them. They all took him down ... started stomping him in the face 20 feet from the Wal-Mart door."

Munoz suffered the brunt of the beat down. He was bloody with a black eye and swollen face. The victims say their attack, which was captured by a security camera, went on for about 10 minutes.

"Nobody helped us," Leddin said. "I was calling for help and nobody came to help us. I was scared at the time. I honestly thought that my friend was dead at the time. Afterwards the security was laughing at us."

No one from the store would talk with ABC11 Eyewitness News on-camera, but did release a written statement.

"We take these situations very seriously and are working with law enforcement to do everything we can to help in their investigation, including providing surveillance video and eyewitness accounts from our third-party security company," said Ashlie Hardie with Wal-Mart Media Relations.

Despite what the store says it's doing to help, the mother of one of the victims is outraged.

"When Wal-Mart invites us to come to their store and post security that we have a reasonable expectation of safety," victim's mother Lisbeth Marin said. "Suppose this had happened to me in the middle of the night, I think Wal-Mart is a very dangerous place to shop."

There is nothing in the initial complaint about security staff laughing at the victims and a security guard is noted in police reports as having called 911.

Even though the victims in the attack said they were jumped by 14 guys --and it may have seemed like that at the time-- ABC11 has been told the security tape only shows five suspects.

Police did respond, captured and questioned one person of interest, but that person was released without being charged.

Fayetteville Police are asking anyone who may have seen anything that night to call them.

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