PALM COAST, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of spitting on a Walmart employee and then yelling racial slurs at a deputy, authorities said.
According to Flagler County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Channing Almonta Cooks, 37, of Palm Coast, was arrested on May 3. He was charged with one count of battery.
In a Facebook post, the sheriff’s office said it responded to a Walmart on Cypress Point Parkway at 6:43 p.m. EDT p.m. on May 3 after receiving a report of a battery.
The employee told deputies that a customer, later identified as Cooks, spit in her face after an “altercation.”
According to the sheriff’s office, Cooks was attempting to return merchandise without a receipt. The victim stated that Cooks became upset, allegedly lunged at her and spat on her face while yelling, “I have a cold.”
Cooks was stopped in his vehicle at a nearby CVS by deputies, where he claimed to have “inadvertently sneezed” on the employee while speaking with her about exchanging baby formula, the sheriff’s office said.
In a video recorded by the sheriff’s office, Cooks explained that he was not upset with the employee.
“I wasn’t in anything,” Cooks told deputies. “(The employee) did say I raised my voice at first.
“But I literally sneezed. But the fact that I did cover my mouth, that’s not on me.”
Cooks was incredulous as he was being arrested.
“I’m being detained for sneezing?” he said. “This is unbelievable.”
Cooks is then recorded on video speaking profanities toward the arresting officer. Deputies said Cooks later apologized for his remarks.
Cooks was arrested in 2018 on a domestic battery charge and for a probation violation the following year. He also served 10 years in prison after he was convicted in 2006 of robbery with a deadly weapon in Putnam County, the sheriff’s office said.
“This convicted felon did not learn a thing about managing his anger since his time in prison,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “His violent behavior escalated what should have been a simple discussion about returning a product, instead he spit in an employee’s face and continued to berate a Deputy Sheriff on his way to jail.
“He had his chance to cool down at the Green Roof Inn, but if he doesn’t learn to avoid altercations, he will find himself back behind bars.”
Cooks was later released after posting $2,500 bail, online court records show. He is expected to appear in court to be arraigned on June 3.
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