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An employee at a Safeway store in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond neighborhood was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries early Tuesday after a shoplifter he confronted stabbed him in the back, police said.

The alleged shoplifter, 34-year-old city resident Michael Pardo, was trying to leave the store at Seventh Avenue and Cabrillo Street at about 12:30 a.m. with a basket full of unpaid merchandise when the employee sought to stop him, said Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesman.

As the men began fighting, the thief’s dog bit the employee on the legs and buttocks, before Pardo stabbed the victim in the back and also tried to stab other workers who rushed to aid the victim, police said. Pardo also sprayed the victim in the face with insecticide, Rueca said.

Police found Pardo after the attack and jailed him without bail on suspicion of attempted murder, robbery, assault, assault with caustic chemicals and inflicting great bodily injury while committing a felony, officials said. Pardo has a city arrest record dating back several years, including charges for drug dealing, unlawful knife possession and driving without a valid license, records show.

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The victim, a 39-year-old city resident whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital, where he was admitted with life-threatening injuries, Rueca said. Jeff Mason, a Safeway spokesman, wrote in an email Tuesday that the company was focusing on the health of the employee.

“The matter is presently under investigation and we do not have any further details to provide,” Mason wrote. “The main concern is for the injured employee’s well-being and full recovery.”

On Tuesday morning, workers at the Safeway store spoke to each other softly in the aisles. One worker appeared to be explaining the events of the previous night to a supervisor.

“Then he bent down and he went like this,” the man said, swinging his hand in a stabbing motion. He later told a reporter he didn’t know what had happened.

At customer service, another employee said that no one on the morning shift had been working when the alleged attack occurred. Staff members haven’t been able to get in touch with the injured employee, she said.

Customers at the store were unaware a stabbing took place hours before, including Carlos Valadao, who walked out carrying containers of yogurt and a bouquet of flowers for his Halloween costume. He was planning to dress as the British artist Banksy, known for throwing flowers.

“That’s crazy,” Valadao said. “It’s a pretty safe neighborhood.”

Pardo’s dog was in the custody of city Animal Care and Control officials.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@

sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno