Florida Donut Store Employee Punches, Kills Rude Elderly Customer Who Hurled Racial Slurs

With racial discrimination taking its toll these days, something unfortunate is bound to happen. In the case of this 77-year-old man who reportedly hurled racial sweet nothings to Dunkin’ Donuts employee, such resulted in his death.

Charged with aggravated manslaughter is Corey Pujols who claims he punched the old man for repeatedly hurling racial slurs at him around 1:30 p.m. on May 4. Per reports, the 27-year-old punched the victim who fell and hit his head at the Dunkin’ store in the Marathon gas station at 410 S 50th St., just south of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. The 77-year-old man was brought to the hospital but later died.

Police and fire rescue teams arrived at the scene and found the old man unconscious and bleeding from the head. The man was taken to the Tampa General Hospital and placed in intensive care. The identity of the old man was not released by police authorities due to Marsy’s Law, a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution that was meant to protect crime victims but that deprives the public of information long available under Florida’s public records law.

It appears the altercation stemmed from a dispute when the old man went through the drive-thru. He was upset about the service and the suspect asked him to leave. Rather than oblige, the man parked his car and stormed inside the store to confront Pujols.

The 27-year-old Dunkin’ Donuts employee says that the man was a regular customer but was pretty rude on that day. When Pujols, a black man, told the old man to repeat what he said, the elder did so and got punched for doing so. It was that lone punch that caused the man to fall down and hit his head on the floor.

Pujols was arrested initially for charge of battery on a person older than 65. He was released the next day after posting a $2,000 bail.

An autopsy showed he had a skull fracture and brain contusions as a result of blunt trauma to the head. A doctor at the Hillsborough Medical Examiner’s Office told police the death would be ruled a homicide.