Man Threatens Grocery Store Employees With Meat Tenderizing Mallet

Police in Prescott Valley have arrested a Cottonwood man for threatening workers in a grocery store with a meat tenderizing mallet. Sergeant Brandon Bonney said 34-year-old Jason Thrift was taken into custody after he could not locate his wife and 18-month-old child.

“Two of the victims indicated that Thrift approached them with a tenderizer raised in a threatening manner as if to strike them,” Bonney said. “He reportedly then told the employees that he would kill them if they didn’t give him his 18-month-old kid and wife back.”

Bonney said it appears Thrift's wife may have taken their 18-month-old to their vehicle when the child started to cry inside the store.

Updated 8/28/2013 at 2:50 p.m.