A 45-year-old man accused of striking another man on the head with a gun in Home Depot was arrested on a felony charge, according to an arrest affidavit.
Daniel Edouard, of West Palm Beach, was arrested May 14 by Port St. Lucie Police on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident at a Home Depot in the 2200 block of Southwest Gatlin Boulevard.
Police about 9:29 a.m. went to the home improvement store where a man, identified as the victim, said he told another man later identified by investigators as Edouard to leave. The person hit said the man had used profanity and created a disturbance in a self-checkout line.
“The male then pulled a firearm from his waistband area and told (the man) to back up,” the affidavit states. “The male struck (the man) in the head with the firearm.”
A witness told police he saw the alleged assailant walk out with a handgun before leaving in a four-door Jeep.
Surveillance footage captured the incident including the assailant striking the suspect with “an object.”
Police reported later spotting a man matching the assailant’s description at the Robert E. Minsky Gym in the 700 block of Southwest Darwin Boulevard.
Queried by police, the man, identified as Edouard, said he was involved in an incident at Home Depot.
Edouard said he asked the man who was hit to let a woman cut in front of the man in line. He said the man stated, “This is America!” before getting close to him.
Edouard said he asked the man to step back, striking him with a handgun when the man did not. Edouard was held at St. Lucie County Jail May 18 on $100,000 bond, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
Adrian Jimenez-Morales is a reporter for TCPalm/ Treasure Coast Newspapers. You can reach him at adrian.jimenez@tcpalm.com.
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida man accused of pistol-whipping in Home Depot, police say
Reporting by Adrian Jimenez Morales and Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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