Best Buy Shoppers Arrested: Allegedly Assaulted Employee Who Asked For Receipt

Fairview Heights, IL — The Christmas spirit was lacking at Best Buy recently when two customers got into an altercation with an employee when they were simply asked to produce a receipt for their purchases as they left the store. Apparently the couple paid for the items inside the store rather than at the front checkout lanes.

According to KMOX, CBS St. Louis, things got ugly really fast at the Best Buy store when a staffer asked the couple to show their receipt for their purchases:

“Police say [the female suspect] began shouting obscenities at the 61-year-old Fairview Heights Best Buy employee at the exit door. Her husband got into the act and smacked the man across the face, sending him down to the ground while his wife didn’t flinch and kept the curse words flying.”

KDSK reports that the husband was charged with one count of aggravated battery with a bond of $20,000. The wife was cited for disorderly conducted and released.

Fortunately, the Best Buy loss prevention employee apparently was not seriously hurt in the incident. He was treated at the store for minor injuries but declined a trip to the hospital.

Best Buy and other retail stores routinely ask shoppers for their receipt as they leave the store especially during the hectic Christmas shopping season. There is no excuse for resorting to physical violence but why do you think that some people have such a visceral negative reaction to that procedure?

Last month, a Walmart shopper who punched a 70-year-old greeter in the face on Christmas Eve 2011 after the employee merely asked for proof of purchase got five years behind bars for the assault.