Posted on May 13, 2021

Dunkin’ Donuts Store Manager, 27, Is Charged with Manslaughter After He Fatally Punched a Customer, 77

Rachel Sharp, Daily Mail, May 11, 2021

A Dunkin’ Donuts store manager has been charged with manslaughter after he fatally punched a 77-year-old customer who he said repeatedly called him a racial slur.

Corey Pujols, 27, is accused of striking the elderly customer with a single punch at a Dunkin’ store in a Marathon gas station in Tampa, Florida, last week.

Corey Pujols

Corey Pujols

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The incident unfolded at the coffee shop at 410 S 50th St., just south of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, at around 1:30pm on May 4.

Tampa Police said the 77-year-old had first gone through the drive-thru window at the Dunkin’ store.

He then became upset with staff about a lack of service and was asked to leave by store employees.

Police said the elderly man instead parked his car and entered the store where he got into a verbal argument with Pujols.

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Pujols, who is black, said the customer then called him a racial slur.

The 27-year-old said he confronted the man about the slur, telling him to repeat what he had said.

When the customer repeated it, Pujols punched him once in the face, sending him backwards to the ground, the report said.

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The incident was captured on the store’s surveillance camera, with the footage showing the customer did not touch Pujols first, reported Tampa Bay Times.

Police and fire rescue crews were called to the scene to find the elderly man unconscious and his head bleeding.

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He died two days later on Friday. An autopsy showed he suffered a skull fracture and brain contusions as a result of blunt trauma to the head, reported Tampa Bay Times.

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