A shoplifting suspect who was caught on camera punching a store clerk in Holmes Beach was arrested earlier this week. 

Holmes Beach officers said Jason Bounds, 44, punched a female clerk at Jessie's Island Store on March 22 after the clerk confronted him about shoplifting. 

The clerk, April Gonzalez, 56, then jumped on Bounds's back and put him a chokehold.

The incident was caught on camera and shows Gonzalez retaliating and trying to detain the suspect. Officers said Bounds was able to free himself and ran from the store. 

Gonzalez said she was surprised to get punched because Bounds was not being aggressive until that point.

"My ear was bleeding, it broke my earrings," Gonzalez said. "They went into the back of my neck here and I still have a little bit of pain. My jaw was sore for almost a week."

"When he come up towards the counter I just asked him, 'Could I have all my stuff back?'," Gonzalez explained. "He said, 'Yes, ma'am, sorry, please don't call the police,' and he gave it to me."

Bounds was arrested on April 17 and charged with battery and resisting a merchant. 

Gonzalez said she's relieved that Bounds is off the streets, and said jumping on his back after he punched her was pure instinct."

"I was crazy and I shouldn't have done what I did, but it is just the instinct of doing it, and would I jump on somebody like that again? No."