A jury will soon deliberate whether a clerk at a Peterborough, Ont., convenience store accused of hitting a man who came after him with a baseball bat while working in 2024 is guilty of aggravated assault.
The incident happened on Jan. 5, 2024, around 2:20 a.m. at a Circle K store near King and Bethune streets.
Security videos presented in court, obtained by CTV News Toronto, show a man entering the store with a baseball bat wrapped in a blue plastic bag.
The man takes the bat out of the plastic and approaches the clerk, Tejeshwar Kalia. A struggle ensues as Kalia pries the bat out of the man’s hands. A customer also intervenes.
The struggle moves outside, and Kalia gets the bat. The man runs away, but Kalia is seen striking him in the back, causing him to fall down on the ground.
Kalia then swings the bat one more time. The other customer checks on the man while Kalia is seen using his phone.
In court on Tuesday, the judge said Kalia testified during the trial that the man who came in said “to open the till or I will (f word) kill you,” and was hit on the head.
The judge said Kalia also testified that the man later threatened him, saying he had a knife.
The court heard Kalia ended up with a concussion, while the man suffered multiple skull fractures.
The crown’s argument centres around whether there was a need for Kalia to defend himself after he got the bat.
Kalia called 911 after the incident. He was 22 years old at the time of the incident, an international student from India.
Closing arguments have ended. Instructions to the jury continue on Wednesday morning.
