A surveillance camera captured the dramatic struggle between customers at a Hartford Rite Aid and the man police said tried to rob the pharmacy.
Eliabner Mercedes Maldonado went behind the counter of the Rite Aid on Franklin Avenue on Saturday and tried to grab cash from the money drawer, police said.
Witnesses told investigators the clerk struggled with the would-be robber, and that's when several customers, including a brother and sister who were shopping at the store, joined in and tried to stop Mercedes Maldonado.
According to police, Mercedes Maldonado pulled a box cutter from his coat, cutting the sister, Maria Silva, 24, on the leg before the customers were able to subdue him.
Silva was treated and released from a nearby hospital.
Mercedes Maldonado was also taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries.
He has already been convicted in Connecticut of threatening and harassment and is on probation.
The judge ordered him held on $500,000.
