Man charged with brandishing knife to threaten grocery store employee

A man is facing charges after allegedly threatening a Newark-area grocery store employee with a knife and then getting caught driving drunk for the fourth time, police said.

The incident happened shortly after 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at the Acme in University Plaza, east of Newark, according to Delaware State Police.

Ivis McGriff, 61, of Wilmington, was acting suspicious in the self-checkout area and making threatening statements, prompting an employee to ask him to leave. McGriff and the employee began arguing, and McGriff threatened the employee with a knife, police said.

McGriff fled in a Dodge Dakota pickup truck, and state troopers responding the incident pulled him over on Interstate 95. McGriff had a sheathed knife on his side and showed signs of impairment, police said.

McGriff, who already has three DUI-related convictions, was charged with aggravated menacing, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, fourth-offense DUI, terroristic threatening, driving on a suspended or revoked license and multiple traffic violations. He was released on $23,650 unsecured bond.