A Portland man is suing Safeway, saying he was assaulted and called racial slurs in one of the company’s stores last year. He seeks $160,000 in damages and a jury trial. Roosevelt Clark says he was attacked by another customer, Jonathan Edward Garner, and suffered a cracked rib and four fractures to his arm. He says Safeway employees saw the attack, but didn’t interject, and did not respond or review security tape when he tried to follow up about the attack. Court documents also state that Safeway had prior issues with Garner showing disruptive and hostile behavior in the store.

Clark says he went into a Gresham Safeway at 1455 NE Division St. last April, and asked three employees standing in one of the aisles where he could find a bottle of soda.

At that point, Clark said, Garner came into the aisle, screamed racial slurs at Clark, and shoved him into the shelves. Clark said the employees did not try to defend Clark or stop Garner. Clark said no store security guards were around, and when he reported it to Safeway’s security manager Tim Thompson, he did not appear to be concerned with the incident and did not review video footage of the assault.

Clark says he is entitled to protection from harm in the store, but Safeway did not ensure that. He also says Safeway should have known about Garner’s behavior.

Garner was charged with harassment and fourth-degree assault for the incident in October 2018 and pleaded not guilty to both. He amended his plea in early April, and was convicted of harassment. The assault charge was dismissed.

The Oregonian contacted the Gresham Safeway, but a spokeswoman said the store did not have a comment. Clark’s attorneys at Creighton & Rose, PC, also did not comment.

--Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR