Posted on 12/15/2009 12:38:17 PM PST by Maelstorm
A Marine stationed at Cherry Point air station restrained a man who had allegedly assaulted a Walmart greeter on Monday until New Bern police could arrive at the scene.
Nathan Josial was in the store located at 3105 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. with his wife and four children to buy pajamas for his daughter to wear at her school’s pajama day, said his wife, New Bern resident Melissa Wysong.
Wysong said they were greeted by the door greeter, John McLean, 83, who had given stickers fto the children and wished them a merry Christmas. Wysong said they heard shouts of an fight, and Josial went to find that Mclean had been assaulted by a store customer.
According to a news release from the New Bern Police Department, McLean said he saw a young white male leaving the store with two 1-gallon milk jugs that were not in a bag.
McLean asked the customer to see his receipt, but he continued to walk away. Mclean reached for the customer, who turned and hit him with the milk.
Mclean suffered small cuts to the head when he fell to the ground after the man hit him, according to the release.
Josial stopped and restrained the suspect in the incident, Austin Stusalite, 25, of 1318 Spencer Ave., until New Bern police arrived.
Stusalite was arrested and charged with simple assault. He was released on a written promise to appear in court on Feb. 8.
Officers confirmed that Stusalite had paid for the milk.
Wysong said that at the time, there had been a group of people standing around at the scene, but no one stepped in to help. So her husband grabbed the man, took him to the ground, and held his hands behind his back until police could arrive.
She said she had her children were proud of Josial, who she said has strong Christian beliefs.
“Everybody just told him ‘thank you,’” Wysong said. “They were calling him ‘the good Samaritan.’”
Laura Oleniacz can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at loleniacz@freedomenc.com.
Why would anyone hit an employee when they WEREN’T shoplifting?
Watch for assault charges to follow. Sadly.
Well, some of those greeters ARE annoying...
/justkidding
No excuse for hitting an old person.
Has Obama issued an arrest warrent for the Marine yet?
PAJAMA DAY at SCHOOL???? OMG!! What the HELL GOOD can come out of PAJAMA DAY???? Disgustingly STUPID.
Note to self: Avoid stores located on "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd." In any city.
BTW, how come it's always in the most grandiose and pretentious form possible? "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd." Why not plain old "King St.," like a lot of other streets are named? < /rhetoricalquestion>
But I, for one, have often wondered about this custom that Walmart has of demanding a receipt from those exiting the store with bagged merchandise, as if the greeter is LE.
It's different at Sam's Club, where I sign a membership contract. But I have often felt a little annoyed at being halted at the exit with a demand to "show papers." Wonder if that happened here to some nut with a short fuse.
They get the signs in bulk.
Having worked for Wal-Mart back in my college days I wouldn't be surprised if the old guy gets canned for trying to stop the idiot who ignored his request for the receipt. That was a huge no-no they pounded into us from day one, we were to call security and let them handle it if we suspected shoplifting.
” But I, for one, have often wondered about this custom that Walmart has of demanding a receipt from those exiting the store with bagged merchandise, as if the greeter is LE.”
They do it to deter shoplifting by customers and employees who work the registers.
It pretty much makes ya feel like you’re a criminal.
I had something slightly similar happen to me once. I was entering the store at the “Exit” and the greeter reached out to stop me. As a reflex action, completely without thinking, I reversed his hold and put him in a hammerlock. I released him right away and felt more than a bit foolish but I hadn’t intended to hurt him. Nothing came of it except we apologised to each other for awhile.
Before anyone accuses me of elder abuse, he was slightly younger than I was.
Good for this man.
I haven’t been in Walmart for a long time; but I always have my receipt where they can see it as I walk by them.
And since they do it to almost everyone who leaves, I guess it isn't discriminatory.
I don't feel so much that they're implying that I'm a criminal. It's just any implicit demand that I do something that I might not be inclined to do gets my inner mamma bear a little snarly. I just don't like being bossed around.
Well it is clear what the problem is here.
The greeter uttered the phrase which must not be spoken:
Merry Christmas!
Especially that divisive and threatening first syllable of the second word.
USMC - Keeping us safe, even in WalMart
Why would anyone hit an 80-something guy period?
It’s private property, within reason they can do what they want. They can decide to check all receipts, a random set of receipts, or just receipts on people they “suspect” as they chose.
The story says the milk cartons he carried were not in a bag, which seems to be why he was asked to show a receipt.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.