Drunk Man Assaults Walmart Cashier in Florida

Victor Westerkamp
By Victor Westerkamp
October 9, 2019US News
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Drunk Man Assaults Walmart Cashier in Florida
Peter McGaughran was arrested by authorities for attacking a Walmart cashier in Stuart, Florida, on Oct. 2. (Marty County Sheriff’s Office)

A drunk man from Delaware launched an attack on a Walmart cashier in Florida, choking her for no apparent reason, then trying to head-butt and kick police officers when they arrested him.

The entire sequence was recorded on a 21-second surveillance video that Stuart County Sheriff’s Office shared with the public.

Overhead security footage shows 32-year-old Peter James McGraughran​ of Wilmington, Delaware, and his 38-year-old girlfriend, Jennifer Budd, standing in the checkout line of the Walmart store at 4001 SE Federal Highway, in Stuart, Florida, at 5:41 p.m. on Oct. 2.

Then—out of the blue—McGraughran walks around the counter and assaults the cashier.

Walmart’s security staff heard the cashier’s screams. Budd and another customer managed to release the employee from McGraughren’s grip. Security staff held McGraughran in custody until law enforcement officers arrived.

Deputies responding to the scene had a hard time arresting McGraughren because he would try to head-butt and kick the officers.

After the incident, the Walmart employee, Libia Evans, was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. She is now recovering from the incident.

“That moment, I believe I remember, ‘Oh God help me, God help me,’ because only God can help me,” Evans, told CBS12 in tears.

McGraughren too was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and afterward transported to Martin County jail. Officers said according to the affidavit, the officer “smelled the heavy odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from (the defendant).”

A Walmart logo
A Walmart store, in Walpole, Mass., on Sept. 3, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)

McGraughren was charged with battery and assault on law enforcement, resisting arrest without violence, and two counts of misdemeanor battery. He was held in jail until Friday on an $11,500 bond.

Walmart stores are all too often the subject of violent outbreaks. Just a few incidents that took place in August:

• On Aug. 4, a Florida man from the Tampa area called a Walmart and told an employee he would shoot up the store, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The man faces a false threat charge.

• In Texas, officers responded to a threat posted Saturday on social media, the Harlingen Police Department said in a statement. “During the course of this investigation, officers learned that a male subject had used a social media site to post up an imminent threat that was to occur at the Walmart in Harlingen on a specific date,” it said. A man was arrested at his home for making a terroristic threat and is awaiting arraignment.

in cooperation with CNN web staff

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