Shoppers flee Tesco after man is spotted walking along the fruit and veg aisle with meat cleaver

Shoppers fled a Tesco store after a man was spotted walking along the fruit and vegetable aisle waving a meat cleaver.

A video captured the man brandishing the blade as he walked through the aisles and past a man inside the store on New Park Street, Leicester.

Janusz Samonek, 37, from Leicester, has been arrested and charged with affray and possession of a bladed article. He has been released on bail and will appear at Leicester Magistrates court tomorrow. 

A man has been filmed brandishing a knife in a Tesco store in Leicester as he walks up and down the fruit and vegetable aisle

The terrifying footage shows a man walking around the store waving the knife as sirens blared.

He was also shown waving the weapon as he walked down the aisle and holding it as he passed a man inside the shop.

The shocking clip was filmed at about 8.30am yesterday by a De Montford University employee who had come in to buy a sandwich for lunch.

‘I noticed staff rushing around and looking frightened. Customers were running out of the shop’, he told Leicestershire Live.

‘That’s when I realised (the alarm) could be a lot more serious, and then I saw this bloke walking towards me down the aisle with a meat cleaver in his hand.

‘He was waving it and shouting at people. I couldn’t figure out what he was saying and I just ran out of the store as quickly as I could.’

Shocking video footage showed the man brandishing the weapon as he walked through the store and also holding it as he walked past a man still inside the shop

A man was filmed brandishing a knife in this Tesco’s store on New Park Street, Leicester, yesterday at around 8.30am

Shoppers were evacuated from the store, Leicestershire police said, and officers remained in the area to provide reassurance to people.

No injuries have been reported. 

Armed police officers arrived at the store about five minutes after the alarm was sounded.