Man Charged With Dragging Gas Station Clerk While Trying to Leave Without Paying

A 26-year-old Milwaukee man is facing felony charges after he allegedly drove off from a Caledonia gas station without paying and dragged the clerk with his van.

Deangelo E. Wright was charged in Racine County Circuit Court Friday with one count of first-degree reckless endangerment of safety and one count of robbery with use of force. If convicted, he faces up to 27 ½ years in prison and $75,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Wednesday, Wright pulled into Sai Mart, 13600 7 Mile Road, and put $85 in gas into his van and began to drive off without paying. The clerk ran out of the store and tried to stop him, but Wright continued to drive. The clerk reached into the van and Wright still kept driving and dragged the man 30 feet.

Wright then got onto the east Frontage Road and continued driving. Police were able to trace the van back to Wright and the next day went to his home in the 2000 block of South 11^th Street in Milwaukee.

Wright said he was going to pay for the gas, but didn’t have any money, so his cousin was going to pay until the clerk came out and called him the N-word and demanded money, so he got scared and drove off.

He said he was helping a friend move his stuff from a home near South 9^th and Maple to a storage facility near South 13^th and Layton the day of the incident. When asked why he was in Racine then, Wright said he didn’t know, but later changed his story saying he was with another girl and didn’t want his girlfriend to find out.

He’s currently being held in Racine County Jail on $2,500 bail while awaiting trial.