It was a violent morning on Castro Street Wednesday when an employee at the Walgreens store there allegedly stabbed a shoplifter in the eye during a street altercation.

It's not clear how things escalated, but what is clear from video that was taken of the incident from across the street is that a man with a backpack was chased out of the store by a security guard and a store employee wearing a blue shirt and face mask, and he was physically attacked by both men until he dropped an object he had in his hand.

The video, posted by the Xitter account FriscoLive415, then shows the man with the backpack recrossing Castro Street and having some kind of exchange outside the Walgreens with the security guard. At that point, the employee can be seen emerging again, possibly with a weapon of some kind in his hand. After he and the shoplifting suspect exchange words, there is another physical confrontation and the suspect falls the ground and curls up in pain.

A second, more graphic video shows the bloody aftermath.

This all happened around 5 am Wednesday. The Chronicle reports that SFPD officers arrived on the scene and arrested the store employee, identified as 45-year-old Guang Hong, as well as the suspected shoplifter, who is identified as 30-year-old Larry Whitlock.

Hong is being held on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Whitlock was cited for battery and petty theft and taken to the hospital for his injuries.

Confrontations between employees and shoplifters at CVS and Walgreens stores have been unfortunately common in recent years in SF, and one such confrontation turned deadly two years ago. A hired security guard at a Walgreens on Market Street fatally shot 24-year-old Banko Brown, who was trying to exit the store with some stolen candy, after getting into a physical altercation.