Vineland Man Sentenced to 7 Years for Walmart Employee Assault

A 56-year-old Walmart employee confronted a shoplifter at the West Landis Avenue store on July 28, 2023, and wound up unconscious on the floor with a brain bleed and a concussion. The man who hit him, 50-year-old Shawn C. Thomas of Vineland, was sentenced Monday to seven years in state prison.

Surveillance footage obtained by Walmart loss prevention showed Thomas passing through the self-checkout registers without paying for all of the items in his cart. When the employee approached Thomas about the unpaid merchandise, Thomas struck him. The employee collapsed and Thomas walked out of the store. Officers from the Vineland Police Department arrived to find the worker unresponsive.

Thomas later pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated assault. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he must serve almost six years of the seven-year sentence before he becomes eligible for parole, then faces three additional years of parole supervision after his release. Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Krachun represented the state; Thomas was represented by Wayne Powell, Esq., whose office is in Cherry Hill.

The case was prosecuted through the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office.

The West Landis Avenue Walmart has been the site of at least one other employee assault. In a separate incident on December 1, an unidentified suspect punched a 64-year-old employee at the store located at 1070 W. Landis Ave. multiple times in the face, according to Vineland police, because the employee was "looking at him." That victim sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from Inspira Medical Center. The suspect in that case has not been identified; he was accompanied by two other individuals police are also seeking. Anyone with information is asked to call 856-691-4111.