The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, when two men, both described as African American by witnesses, entered the Cigarettes For Less store located at 8027 Wayland Ave. between the Looking Good Salon and Boutique Nails and Skin Care.

According to police, one of the men brandished a 6-and a half-inch kitchen knife in the incident, but it was not used in the assault on the female clerk who was reportedly hit numerous times in the face and chest area by both suspects.

"It's hard to piece things together right now because the victim is still very shaken and because of swelling to her face she's having a very difficult time speaking," said Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Jack Robinson. "She'll be all right, but she's still pretty scared."

Police were called to the scene when a handful of witnesses walked by the store and saw the clerk being assaulted.

A GPD bicycle officer was then able to chase and arrest one of the suspects, Kofi Deonbi, 20, from the San Francisco area.

Deonbi will not talk to police, but his fingerprints were found at the store, GPD spokeswoman Debbie Moore said this morning. Deonbi was arrested for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, and is currently being held without bail at county jail in San Jose.

Police are still looking for the second suspect in the case, who they describe as an African-American male, 6-foot 2-inches tall, wearing a white shirt, black pants and clean-cut hair. He could be driving a white Chrysler 300-M car with a California plate beginning with 4YA.

Anybody with information in the incident is being asked to call GPD Detective Dan Zen at 846-0350.

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