Amid coronavirus panic-buying, 2 injured in fight in Sam's Club wine aisle
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 4 years ago • 88 commentsBy: Janelle Griffith
Amid panic-buying at grocery stores across the country due to the coronavirus crisis, a fight broke out at a Sam's Club in Georgia that ended with two men wielding broken wine bottles against each other.
Police said the dispute began in the wine aisle at the store in Hiram, about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta, when a man in a motorized shopping cart bumped into a couple's cart, which was carrying their child.
It was captured on video that was uploaded to Twitter and which had been viewed almost 700,000 times as of Friday morning.
Officers were called to the Sam’s Club at approximately 5:30 p.m. about an assault in progress, Hiram Police Sgt. Edwin Ivey told NBC News on Friday.
Within minutes of arriving, officers found two men with cuts surrounded by a small crowd of onlookers.
Investigators determined that after the motorized shopping cart bumped into a man and woman's cart, the woman confronted the man in the motorized cart, struck him with her hand and accused him of ramming their cart.
The man in the motorized cart tried to back away, but the couple confronted him again, "escalating the confrontation further," Hiram police said in a statement.
He told investigators he grabbed a wine bottle to defend himself from the couple, Ivey said. The other man then grabbed a wine bottle, and the two men began striking each other with the bottles, according to Ivey.
"The altercation continued after the bottles were broken, causing lacerations to both parties," the police statement said. The fight ended with both men on the ground among the broken glass.
The two men were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Bystanders assisted in separating the two men until police arrived. The names of the two men and woman are not being released, Ivey said, but criminal charges have been prepared for all three.
A manager at the Sam's Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
YOOO! pic.twitter.com/Ke089xzr5g
— Everything Georgia (@GAFolIowers) March 13, 2020
I heard there were fights at the Costco nearest to us, about 30 miles away. Whether they were verbal or physical, I'm not sure. I was in Walmart yesterday, and it was crowded, but everyone was civil.
Yesterday I was in Costco and there was a freakout when they ran out of Spam. I was shocked. People yelling and screaming at some poor guy about how could Costco run out of a basic need in emergencies like Spam.
Personally I wouldn't eat the stuff.
I can't remember the last time I had Spam. Pre-high school, I'm sure.
I was a probably 12 the last time I ate it.
Freaking out about spam. Pathetic. Buy a can of tuna. Jeez.
I talked to my Aunt earlier. She went to a dollar store by her and they came over the loud speaker with an announcement. Something about the only TP they had was what was on any shelf.
I guess they got tired of people asking if they had any in the back.
Blech! I think I'd rather fight for the Spam or better yet the wine.
Haha The real horror here, the wine abuse.
OMG, they ran out of Spam. That is a criminal offense at the least. We're talking about a great American institution here. Are you aware that there are dozens of different types of Spam?
Spam Eaters United is a huge organization with millions of members worldwide.
Fried Spam and red red wine..What could be better?
Spam, also known as Ojibwe Steak.
"I don't like SPAM!" (Monty Python)
As I read the beginning of your comment, I cringed. Someone fighting over Spam is like someone fighting over a pile of ah ah ah, well you probably get the idea.
I made the mistake of buying some Vienna Sausage. I tried one of them and even my cat wouldn't eat it. They are sitting by my backdoor ready to put in my car and I'm going to market them for free tomorrow in my travels.
Military C-rations in the early 70's for me. Ate those so much in Vietnam I learned to hate it with a passion!
I went to Home Depot and some man had a cart full of paper towels. people were scanning the section that has cleaning supplies.
I just think it is ridiculous. It will take him forever to go through all those.
Then I read an article about some ass that went around to all the dollar stores and other stores and cleared them all out of sanitizer and wipes. Bought them for a couple of bucks a piece and then was selling them on Amazon for like 40 bucks.
Amazon shut him down for price gouging and now the schmuck is stuck with a storage unit full.
He still saw nothing wrong with what he was doing.
People can be assholes. Like with this story. The woman didn't have to slap the man in the cart. It was probably an accident. Her and her husband sound like the aggressors to me.
I had plenty of TP and paper towels, but I bought some canned foods, and a few things my son can easily fix for lunch since schools here are closed for 2 weeks. I don't know why, maybe I panicked, but I went to the toilet paper aisle. The shelves were bare, but a guy told me there were stockers unloading TP directly from pallets onto carts, if I wanted to wait in line. Since I have enough for several weeks, I left. If somebody was willing to wait in line, they needed it more than I do.
I can no longer buy masks, hand sanitizer, or antibacterial soap for my office. Once my current stock is gone, I'll have to close. I hope this ends soon.
And apparently at the worst of times.
Sadly I don't have that much. I usually let things run thinner during the winter months then stock up around hurricane season. Which is going to be upon us. But now with all these people freaking out it is going to be more difficult.
Ain't that the truth. It seems to be instead of helping ones neighbor it is stock up, hoard and then hide from ones neighbor.
I hope it doesn't come to that for you.
Thank you. Lots of folks are in the same boat.
Tough to do as a medical professional since emergencies happen.
And I'd bet that there was more wine involved than what was in the bottles. That's usually the case in a situation like that.
I think we all do.
But from everything I've read, this is going to go on for quite a while.
Apparently this Virus is not as deadly as some of the worst ones in the past, but it seems its one of the most contagious ones.
Of course various companies are trying to produce a vaccine, but that takes a long time. According to "the smart money" Gilead supposedly had one of the best chances to develop one-- but recently it looks like their are problems with their best one . That will take a while.
And since the official line out of Washington seems to be that the virus is no big deal, many government workers apparently aren't taking it all too seriously:
Thousands arriving from China and Europe at U.S. airports have faced no coronavirus screening
There have been severa; news stories sayiong that if the Virus becomes as widespread as predicted, hospitals will soon run out of beds...and other equipment. (In China what they did is put up pre-fab hospitals in short time-- but there still was inadequate capacity.
And apparently there's a worldwide shortage of appropriate mask-- expecialling concerning to the medicl community as they are the one that really need them as they put themselves at risk numerous times a day....
Fortunately, my job really doesn't involve life-threatening emergencies. Well, not often, anyway. If a patient were to call while I'm closed with a true emergency, I'd have to prescribe antibiotics and painkillers and refer them to either another office (and hope they're still able to stay open), or to the hospital. Some of our infection control items, like masks, have been rationed for several months now, so we couldn't stock up ahead of time.
You can make your own sanitizer at way less cost than to buy it.
I'm pretty sure the limiting item is going to be masks. I have hand sanitizer and hand soap for a while - probably several months' worth.
You want some Vienna Sausage? I have two sixpacks for free. I have enough rice to feed the Chinese Army. I'll probably be giving most everything I've bought to people who could use it. Damn MSM, trying to freak everyone out!
People are freaking out. And that is exactly what one would expect. It is only going to get worse. That is why I support aggressive actions to nip this in the bud. Ideally we have a short term pain but then can get back to normal.
I have to agree with that. Zero tolerance for acts of aggression.
Just have a bottle of......
Anyone starting shit should be legally trespassed for a min of 6 months.
No violence here but I was surprised that in my rural little middle of nowhere town a lot of the shelves in the stores were bare due to what one employee told me was panic buying (LOL, 'll be eating more spinach in the next week than normal), Walmart even ran out of plastic grocery bags.
My cashier said they were running short. Her register still had some, but not many. I take reusable bags.
I would have bought some today but they were also all sold out.
Some states have banned the use of plastic bags (that has nothing to do with the current Virus but rather they are the ones who aware of the terrible cumulative damage the use of plastic does to the environment.) Such action is long overdue!
Phase-out of lightweight plastic bags in the United States
I have some permanent bags I bought a while back. (One is lightweight, strong, and insulated as well).
They carry more, too. My garage is in the basement. The fewer trips up and down the stairs I make, bringing in groceries, the better. Even if they weigh 50 pounds each
It also will earn you more workout minutes on your FitBit, Apple Watch or other wearable.
I should get one. I have a Galaxy 8 phone that has a fitness app, but it leaves much to be desired. I carry it on walks, but it doesn't track change in elevation, as I've seen iPhones do. There is little flat land here, so my walks always involve a lot of hill work. I want credit for that.
I have an Apple Watch; perfect especially for those of us with iPhones. I never thought I would find value in it until a friend of mine showed me how he uses his watch. Now it is my constant companion. It is especially great during workouts, but I love the time management and memory aids. Good for boomers; even the younger boomers.
I don't wear a watch most of the time, because they interfere with gloves at work. But I'd wear one for walks or workouts.
If you go to Sam's Club at the right time, you can eat your meal while shopping. Just put you stuff on a shelf on the way out.
Pillow cases also make good bags and they hold quite a bit. Just attach makeshift handles and you are good to go. Add a trash bag liner for items that might sweat or leak and you have this.
Wine isn't a vaccine nor a cure for covid-19 but the virus could be a good excuse to get drunk.
Some of us are thinking about self quarantining in a local Irish pub for two weeks!
We all know that alcohol is a great disinfectant!!!!!
Pub grub and Guinness sounds like a plan to me.
Sounds better every time I hear it!!!!!
At the very least.... maintain your sense of humor under the circumstances.
To quote Frank Herbert: "Fear is the mind killer."
And Ireland has closed its pubs, right before St. Paddy's Day.
Wow, that is like Hell freezing over.
Fix up a keg of PJ. Don't eat too many cherries, though. Ooh, I remember that time.
I'm with Fish in that we need to expand with quantity of things to sanitize with...… Legalize backyard stills!
Well...…. We are in a state of national emergency you know.
Having backyard stills could become a matter of life or death.
Under current conditions.... I'd put them as being akin to "Victory Gardens"
"No officer.... I'm not making moonshine, I'm synthesizing disinfectant!"
I don't need an excuse.
"BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH"
Be inventive lack of toilet paper is not a problem.
Wally loves to do that.
From an Oklahoma St. friend of mine
And people thought the Yellow Pages were useless.....!
Anybody have some encyclopedias.....? May as well learn something prior to finishing your paperwork.
LMAO!
Coffee filters can serve a duel purpose.
Aren't there enough caffeinated assholes out there already Paula?
We were kind of surprised that even Amazon & Jet were out of paper towels.
We ordered a roll of 'reusable' bamboo towels that supposedly were the equivalent of 50 rolls of paper towels if used properly.
Time will tell, indeed.
Those splinters are hell, but it gets easier after the 3rd of 4th time of using them.
Silly one.
We have lots of Bamboo socks and sheets. I notice that they take longer to dry than cotton or nylon blends.
Other than that they are softer than cotton but generally more expensive.
I feel bad for the kids that are out of school if they remain closed for the rest of the school year they'll either have to spend all summer in school or have to repeat the year they're in now.
I can see it now, men in trench coats hiding in the dark. They open the coats and the usual fake Rolexes and cheap jewelry hanging in them will be replaced by Charmin.
"Hey kid..... Come heeere!"