Serial shoplifter Charles Brito, 50, was shoplifting at a Midtown CVS when the security guard, Scotty Enoe, 46, tried to stop him from shoplifting. Brito, arrested 16 times since 2017, did not like being told he couldn’t steal products from the CVS. So he attacked Enoe, punching him in the face and trying to fight him. Enoe, fearing for his life, stabbed Brito. Now he, the attacked security guard, is being charged with murder.
Enoe, describing why he used the knife, insisted that he didn’t kill Brito to stop him from stealing, but because he was being attacked. “I didn’t stab him over CVS products. I stabbed him over punching me. Look at my face,” he is quoted as saying.
The DA’s office even admits that he was attacked, but allege that he used too much force to defend himself and so that way justify charging Enoe, who has no criminal record, with murder for defending himself from a frequently arrested serial shoplifter.
Particularly, Assistant District Attorney Julie Nobel, an attorney in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office, accused Enoe of “bringing a knife to what was otherwise a fistfight,” saying that because of that supposed disparity in force used, “This is a strong case.”
Enoe was recently released from jail on a $100,000 bail, about which his attorney, Adam Freedman, told the New York Post in a statement that “Obviously he’s happy to be getting out of jail. He’s looking forward to being home and he’s looking forward to going back to work.” The $100,000 bail was paid by one of Enoe’s other employers, not CVS.
To be released, Enoe had to surrender his passport, agree not to leave the five boroughs, is not allowed more than two hours a day of outside recreation, and has to be home by 8 pm. However, he can work in the interim and has a number of jobs to work, a concession from the government that will hopefully help him pay his legal bills.
Freedman, commenting on the release on bail and conditions attached, also told the New York Post, “I really appreciate the fact that they recognize this as not your run-of-the-mill kind of case, and that this guy should not be in jail pending some sort of resolution of it. So we’re pleased that he’s going to be getting out today.”
"*" indicates required fields
Continuing, Freedman added that being out on bail helps Enoe treat his chronic illness, sickle cell anemea, saying, “He’s got a chronic illness, and he was getting medical attention for it, so at least from that perspective he’s happy and we’re pleased, and his health seems to be OK. But obviously he’s going to get much better attention and care in the community than he ever would with the Department of Correction.”
Enoe’s court date is on September 7th. Till then, he will be able to stay out on bail and keep working and treating his sickle cell, so long as he abides by the other terms of his release on bail and doesn’t try to flee from the area.