‘Move the baby!’ Watch a cop and shopper get into a heated fight at Florida Walmart
A violent scene played out just as a Jacksonville Walmart was closing on Sunday.
Video taken by a fellow shopper shows a uniformed officer from Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and an individual later identified as Yoel Rodriguez engaged in a heated fight.
An eyewitness told The Florida Times Union that before the scuffle, the suspect was in a long checkout line and stepped away to grab something last minute.
According to an arrest report, a store manager said that Walmart employees approached Rodriguez to tell him the store was closing and he wasn’t allowed to shop anymore.
When Rodriguez reportedly ignored the employees and continued to shop, an off-duty uniformed officer who was patrolling the area was called in to deal with the situation, the report says.
In the quick clip, the two men appear to have some sort of communication issue, screaming at one another. Rodriguez gets very close to the officer’s face, and a violent shoving match begins.
They end up on the floor, engaged in battle.
A woman, who has been identified by police as the suspect’s wife, screams near a baby stroller.
“Ayuda! Help!” she screams, attempting to pull the cop off of her husband. A small child stands nearby.
The officer tells her to “stay away.”
“Oh my God!” the woman cries.
Onlookers yell to her: “Move the baby, move the baby!”
The wife continues to scream hysterically in a mix of Spanish and English, her mask falling off her face.
Rodriguez is cuffed and stands up, his shirt full of blood. The 43-year-old was arrested and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer. He was released on $7,500 bail the following day, according to Duval County court records.
Both the suspect and officer suffered minor injuries.
The Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement about the incident: “It is abundantly clear that the defendant in this case not only hit the officer’s arm, but he was actively pulling away and resisting the officer. We are thankful that the officer was able to overcome the resistance and prevent severe injury to the defendant, injury to himself, or injury to innocent bystanders.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 3:30 PM.
