A store clerk was attacked by a man with a baseball bat this morning after being told the store did not carry the size of tank top shirts he requested, police said.



The attack happened between 10:30 and 11 a.m. at a convenience store on the 5500 block of West Belmont Avenue in the Cragin neighborhood, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien.



The 51-year-old clerk was behind the counter of the store when a man went into the store and asked the clerk if he had triple extra large sized tank top t-shirts, O'Brien said.



After the clerk told the man the store did not carry the item, the man pulled out a baseball bat and began beating the clerk, O'Brien said. After beating the clerk, the man fled with the bat.



Another merchant on the block said she saw the clerk run out after the man fled.



"He went out on the street to cry for help,'' his body covered in blood, she said.

"It was very unfortunate, very vicious.''



Not only did the woman, who declined to give her name, see the man armed with a bat running away through an alley, cameras also captured the attack, she said. The business owners in the area are a tight-knit group, she added.



The clerk suffered a cut to his head and was taken to Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, where he was treated and released, police and fire officials said.



The suspect is being described as black, between 23 and 30 years old, between 5 feet 8 inches tall and 6 feet tall and between 200 and 250 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair and a dark complexion and was last seen wearing a red bandanna and white tank top shirt, O'Brien said.



Anyone with information is asked to call Area North detectives at 312-744-8261, O'Brien said.