TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Police said a Dunkin’ store employee fatally punched a 77-year-old customer in Florida after the employee said the man repeatedly used a racial slur against him.
The victim, a man who police did not name, was punched May 4 and died Friday. That led to a manslaughter charge against 27-year-old Corey Pujols, who worked at the store.
Pujols told police that the man was “extremely rude” the day of the punch and had called him a racial slur. Pujols, who is Black, said he confronted the man about the slur, at which point the 77-year-old repeated it. The slur was not described further by police.
A Tampa Police Department report says after he was punched, the victim fell backward and hit his head on the concrete floor. The Tampa Bay Times reports an autopsy shows the man suffered a skull fracture and brain contusions.
Police: Dunkin’ customer, 77, fatally punched by employee
A couple of lessons here: The myth of fists being benign uses of force just keeps being taken apart. How many similar cases do you know off in your lifetimes?
Second: Words do not hurt. Insults do not represent reasonable fear of Death or grave Bodily Harm so they do not raise to the level of using Deadly Force. And it does not matter if the employee did not mean to kill the customer as the prosecution will say that a reasonable and prudent person knows that attacking a senior of that advanced age could result in Death or Grave Bodily Harm.
Third: I can’t help but think that Ego was also included in the package “Old fart called me a name? I can take him with one punch and teach him a lesson!” and now he is sitting in jail, no bail and facing up to 30 year in prison. Words do not hurt. Big hunkering horny cellmates that have designs on your butthole will hurt, and a lot and repeatedly.
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