By Linda Taaffe

A clerk at a Mountain View video store died last week at the hands of an alleged robber who stabbed him multiple times before stuffing a bag with cash and forcing a second employee outside, according to police.

Mountain View police arrested Michael Paul McGrath, 26, just after midnight on Sept. 19 at Blockbuster Video on Grant Road in Mountain View on charges of homicide and armed robbery.

He was booked at San Jose Main Jail and could face the death penalty.

Police dispatchers received a 911 call from the store just past midnight.

The caller did not say anything, but the dispatcher could hear what sounded like a struggle in the background and immediately sent police units to the store.

When police arrived, they saw McGrath walking around in the store with what appeared to be an employee.

McGrath exited the store with the employee in front of him. Police arrested McGrath.

The employee was uninjured, police said.

Police found a second employee dead in the store with numerous stab wounds.

Police said the incident appeared to be a robbery turned homicide according to the initial investigation.

This was the first recorded homicide in Mountain View this year, police said.