Man beaten with squeegee after gas pump argument
A Conway man was arrested late Tuesday afternoon after allegedly using a gas pump squeegee to bludgeon a man in his mid-60s after an altercation over who was first in line for gas.
According to a Conway Police Department incident report, the victim reported that he had been waiting in line at a gas pump at the Murphy USA fuel station at 2164 Harkrider St. when a man identified in the report as 21-year-old Hector Chavez of 475 East Robins St. “cut in front of him.”
An officer working off-duty security at the nearby Walmart store was the first to arrive, finding Chavez pointing to the man and saying “he hit me!” and that he didn’t know why, according to this officer’s account. This officer then spoke to the man, who said that after Chavez “whipped into the space” he had been waiting on, the man “got out of his vehicle and told Chavez that he had been waiting in line ... and that Chavez should move.”
The man told the officer that Chavez began to yell and curse, and at one point pushed him and continued to walk towards him, at which point the man grabbed the squeegee “and swung it towards Chavez ... not close enough to hit Chavez, but (he) had just wanted him to stay back,” according to the report.
The man said that swinging the squeegee caused window washing liquid to spray onto Chavez’s shirt, according to the officer’s report, which goes on to state that “(the man) said Chavez became enraged and then came at him and took the squeegee from him and began to beat him with it.”
Chavez later admitted to this officer that the man had not hit him when he swung the squeegee, but only sprayed window cleaning fluid on him.
The man sustained injuries to the back of his head and his forearm, both of which were “bleeding quite heavily for being caused by the window cleaning tool,” according to the officer’s account.
During the beating the squeegee broke, according to the report. The part containing the cleaning surface was photographed and collected as evidence, according to the report, as “several pieces of hair and bits of skin were lodged in the squeegee end.”
Chavez was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, but later charged with second-degree battery, as an injury had occurred whereas an assault charge can be filed as a result of “conduct that is very likely to produce an injury,” according to deputy prosecutor Charles Finkenbinder. The charge is classified as a class-D felony, as the injured party was “very obviously over the age of 60 (over which any injury can be grounds for a felony battery charge) from his appearance.”
Chavez appeared on Wednesday at Faulkner County Circuit Court and was set a $4,000 bond. He will be arraigned on the charge on Friday with the assistance of a court interpreter.
attack at gas pump
hmm wonder if the man has a son .
You beat me to it Cherokee
I was just going to post the same thing....
I hope this Chavez Punk gets what he deserves.
blocking pumps
It's getting bad where I live too. People pulling in front of you to buy lottery tickets .You cant get out or in from the pumps. Murphy Oil needs to move the Lottery sales away from the pumps.
It is indeed getting bad everywhere.
The blocked pumps, i can tolerate.....but its the cash register lines that get me....people are wanting to scratch their tickets off right there, at the register, it doesnt bother them that 5 other people are behind them that just want to pay for their gas and leave.
I've lived in another lottery state, and most places there would not let you scratch a ticket anywhere inside the store. If some tried it, they were asked to leave. and other places had seperate lines strictly for lotto sales only. Both of these policies seemed work well.....i'm sure it will just take time for Arkansas to finally figure this out.
Support a Squeegee Ban
I've said it before, and I will say it again: Squeegees have no place in a civilized society.
Buzz Lightyear says
Never leave home without your own TASER.
Or a ten-year-old (bad) girl for backup partner!
I wonder if it was one of
I wonder if it was one of those high capacity squeegees?
When squeegees are outlawed, only outlaws will have squeegees.
squeegee this
They can have my squeegee when they pry my cold dead fingers from around it
Truth Be Told
Packin'
From now on - I'm packing a Squeegee - leaving the Colt at home...
(Certified in Combat Squeegee, Practical Squeegee and Long Range Squeegee)
Member: NSA - National Squeegee Association
Permit?
Just sent off to the State Police for my squeegee carry permit. Never know when you're going to need it.
Who was the old dude?
Why isn't the 60+ squeegee swinger name in the paper? Makes me wonder who he is? Yeah, the guy shouldn't have cut in front of him, but if some irate old dude got out swinging stuff at me , I would defend myself too. Old people are gangsta . Don't start it, if you can't finish it! What? People don't use video phones anymore? Where's the footage?
Why was Chavez arrested?
Let me get the story correct. Chavez stole the space. Old Dude, was like Sonny you took my space. Chavez was like get the blank out of here. Old dude grabbed the squeegee and started swinging it at Chavez. Chavez got the squeegee and started to beat the old dude with his own weapon of choice. Why weren't they both arrested? Both were bleeding and injured. So, the old dude wasn't arrested because he was too old, even though he started the altercation by getting out the car? That just doesn't sound fair to me. So what are you supposed to do if some old person attacks you first? Sounds like Chavez got a bad deal. Something smells very bad in this one. Sounds like the good old boy network is at it again.
I just want the facts about news as it happens. I can do without the opinions.
That's why You stay in your car!
LMAOH that is soooo true .We all know that there is alot of road rage in Conway! first of all when you provoke someone than you step out of you vehicle and act like you wanna do something than you get what you deserve....bottom line.Bet you wouldn't do that in a BIG city. So when you approach someone you get whats coming to you. Next thing you know your family is burying you cause of a gunshot wound to the head. Now the old man grabbed a weapon(yes a weapon) hell id smoked em too. in self defense.When you act like a man, OLD are YOUNG(no minors) than you get treated like one. So let this be a lesson to all you men and yes women, to keep your doors lock and windows up and proceed on to your destination or youll never make it there.
Are you serious?
Let me get this straight....So a Senior Citizen deserves to get beat to a Bloody Pulp by a 21 Year Old, because he got windshield washer fluid on the punks shirt?.....I've got to hear the logic behind this, please explain.
Come on...
justwantdanews you need to change your name to just want to make up my own story! You should read that one more time and get it straight. Old dude says, you cut.. First amendment right to free speech! Young dude says Screw you! First amendment right to free speech! Young dude pushes old dude.. Crossed the line into criminal! Young dude walks toward old dude. Old dude grabs squeegee and swings in defense of himself.. Which he has a right to protect himself. Young dude takes squeegee from him and beats old dude with squeegee! Now what freaking part of that says that both of them were bleeding!
And for Shawnster... no one DESERVES to be hit with anything because they speak! Shooting someone with a squeegee will get you a second degree murder charge!!!
Squeegees don't bludgeon
Squeegees don't bludgeon people. People do. What will the judge do in this case. Wipe the slate clean?
Did I miss something
True Chavez should not have cut in front of the old man, but did that qualify the old man cussing at him and swinging an object at him? I am in my 50's but I've been around long enough to know than when some people get old they think they are entitiled to say and do what they want. Just like I told my kids, If you don't want to get hit don't hit other people but if they threaten you first then finish it. Could it be that he was arrested because he was hispanic?
I don't know maybe he was
I don't know maybe he was having a town hall meeting flash back and "Get Your Hands Off My Gas Pump" kept running through his
mind. Who knows? I bet he won't he won't make this mistake again.
@ David good one
@Nana . . . good point? It's possible. Maybe that's why they didn't mention the geezers name.
I just want the facts about news as it happens. I can do without the opinions.
I'm sorry but Chavez put his
I'm sorry but Chavez put his hands on the other guy first. That is why he was arrested, oh that and the fact that he aggressively beat the other guy. I would think that would constitute arrest, not the fact that he is "hispanic." Good grief you guys see conspiracy in everything.