Don’t get me wrong, you should never, ever do this. But counterpoint, what kind of bum ass, bush league supermarket closes the goddamn meat department while the rest of the store is still open? That’s some bullshit is what that is.
Court documents show that officers responded to the scene and ordered Gay to get out of his truck so they could arrest him. After he was taken into custody, an officer removed a loaded semi-automatic pistol with a bullet in the chamber from Gay’s hip holster.
In an interview, Gay said he went to Price Cutter to buy steaks. He told the “good man” who was helping him that they needed to weigh the steaks. However, the meat department was closed. Gay said at that point, he showed his gun “Just to say I’m not stealing. I need you here to help me to get a couple of these steaks. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The officer asked Gay why he thought the people in the store called police and told them he was threatening them with his gun.
“I don’t know,” Gay said in the interview. “I have no idea.”
Not surprisingly, the “good man” who was helping him had a different take on the situation.
According to him, when he informed Larry Gene Gay, 70, that he was neither allowed to bag his own merch nor be in the meat department at all and that there would be no assistance for him on this day, Gay introduced him to his friend. That friend was either the gun or a vocal coach, because there was suddenly a different tune being sung.
“Once he held the gun to my throat — pushed it into my throat — I decided to comply,” the “good man” told police.
Gay was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action, both felonies.