Taz's Supermarket owner charged in assault 8 months before murder charge

The owner of a downtown Raleigh convenience store charged with fatally stabbing a customer in April was arrested eight months prior for assault.

Court records show Taiseer Zarka, 60, was charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon in August 2022. Multiple sources tell WRAL News the charge was dismissed and later expunged from Zarka’s record.

The details of the assault are unknown because North Carolina state law restrict access to expunged case files.

Zarka remains in the Wake County Detention Center charged with murder in the April 6 death of Mark Garrity.

Raleigh police say Zarka, 60, stabbed the 27-year-old man during a confrontation inside Taz’s Supermarket on Wilmington Street in downtown Raleigh.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said she could not speak about the previous assault; however, she said the details of August assault could play a role in a future trial.

“This was not the first time that [Zarka] has come in contact with our office,” Freeman said.

“Certainly the law allows for where there are what is known as prior bad acts or prior conduct that is substantially similar to the conduct in question — the law does allow the prosecution to bring that information to bear in a trial,” she said.

WRAL Investigates requested calls for service to Taz’s Supermarket, 207 S. Wilmington Street, and uncovered 939 calls since 2018.

Nearly 300 calls — or 30% over the last five years — were police-initiated security checks.

The records also show 134 disturbances, 43 reports of suspicious people or activity, 42 assault, 9 fights, 7 robberies and hundreds of other incidents ranging from alcohol violations to larceny and trespassing.

The store is located one block from Moore Square and the GoRaleigh bus terminal on Blount Street. Pedestrians often loiter outside the store.

Shaun Jenkins, a downtown business owner, said she visited Taz’s almost daily until a negative interaction with Zarka in March.

Jenkins captured the owner on cellphone video yelling profanities at her during a dispute over the use of the store’s microwave. She said he became upset when she heated up her personal food despite purchasing a beverage almost daily.

“He just went ballistic,” said Jenkins, who filed a police report against Zarka for communicating threats. “I was so angry. I just felt very disrespected.”

WRAL News reached out to Zarka prior to his arrest for the fatal stabbing. He said, "I really don't feel like talking about it. This is a case that has gone. Too bad it happened, but it's gone."

Taz’s Supermarket remains open.

Freeman said the case will be presented to a grand jury in the next 30 days.