Jerky Beef: Clerks Beaten Over 7-Eleven Snack, Police Say

Two Bala Cynwyd 7-Eleven clerks, a husband and wife, were beaten by two customers early Saturday morning after a disagreement over a piece of beef jerky, Lower Merion police said Monday afternoon.

A 56-year-old Philadelphia man and a 33-year-old Philadelphia woman were both charged with simple assault. The two clerks were treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

About 3:25 a.m. Saturday at the City Avenue convenience store, police said, the female customer argued with clerks over beef jerky she was going to buy. The customers told police they were attacked by the clerks, but the clerks said the opposite, an account that witnesses corroborated.

The female customer threw the jerky at one clerk's head, then both customers punched and kicked the clerks repeatedly until two other customers stopped them, police said.

The alleged assailants were still at the store when police responded to the silent alarm. They face preliminary hearings Dec. 10, according to court records.