ST. LOUIS — A former CVS employee arrested for firing shots outside of his job in Creve Coeur is opening up about the case. The 21-year-old man, who has never been arrested before, is now awaiting trial on two felony charges.
"Demco is a hard-working young man if you want to be honest,” Demco Harrell said after deciding to speak exclusively with 5 On Your Side.
He quickly advanced when he got a job at CVS in Creve Coeur.
"I started off as a cashier and worked my way up to a shift leader," he said.
Back in March, he lost his job. It started when a masked man walked in.
"The man came in. He was basically watching me. I had a gut feeling something wasn't right. I'm all about energy. I can read energy…" he said. "A customer called the police because he was looking suspicious, which he was."
That's when the man approached.
"He was acting like a regular customer. He said 'Hey you. Do you have some Gucci cologne?' My co-worker answered before me. He said, 'No we don’t have it.' So me being me. I'm the manager. I just continued like it was a regular day. I said, 'No we don’t have Gucci cologne but we have Polo Red, Polo Blue, Polo Green. Just advertising what we have,” he said.
He says he went to retrieve the cologne the customer requested, but something odd happened.
"I go in to type my store number and he smacks fire into me to where I don't remember what happened…I hit my head on the cologne stand," he said.
After being hit, Harrell says the customer ran out, and so did he.
"I wanted to know who hit me. What was the point of hitting me? I just ran after the guy to see what was going on, not just what was going on but who is the guy? What are you riding in? Who are you because I don't know who assaulted me. All I seen were eyes," he said. "I tried to see what he was riding in and tried to get a license plate. He dropped his window as I was
trying to get a look at the car…He pulled a weapon. I pulled a weapon. Next thing you know, shots were fired."
In a panic, Harrell clocked out and started walking home. Police are concerned he didn't call 911.
"I had so much emotion going on. Somebody assaulted me on my job first off. I didn't know how to feel. I didn't know what to say," he said.
Officers found him walking not far from the store and arrested him. Harrell is now charged with two felonies -- unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action.
"Some people will say ‘Why did you have a gun?” 5 On Your Side's Brent Solomon asked.
“St. Louis. It's a dangerous city. At the end of the day, I'm trying to protect myself and just make it home…I don’t recommend carrying a gun just for the fun of it. I recommend carrying a gun to protect yourself and to protect your family at the end of the day…I didn't know what to do and I've never been in a situation where I have to use my firearm,” Harrell said.
According to charging documents, police say Harrell fired 10 to 15 shots at the car as the driver was leaving. No one was hurt.
5 On Your Side Creve Coeur for more information, but the department declined, citing a need to protect victims and witnesses. A court hearing on the case will happen Monday. Harrell is looking for an attorney.