North Carolina Man Takes “Customer Loyalty” Too Far After Girlfriend’s Walmart Firing
RURAL HALL, N.C. — It’s fair to say most people get upset when a loved one loses a job. But 72-year-old Larry Keaton Brown may have taken “standing by your woman” to a new, and highly inadvisable, level.
According to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, Brown allegedly decided that the best way to protest his girlfriend’s firing from a local Walmart was to hold his own form of… shall we say, unapproved customer feedback.
Deputies say that on the night of October 10, multiple shots were fired into a house on Pullman Drive and into a parked car belonging to the store’s manager. Fortunately, no one was injured — though the siding and the sedan both had a rough evening.
Investigators, comparing the two incidents, quickly noticed a common thread: both appeared linked to the same Walmart where Brown’s girlfriend had recently been shown the door. “Using the latest forensic technology,” officials said — which probably means security cameras and bullet casings — they concluded the two events were connected.
Authorities caught up with Brown during a traffic stop, where, according to police, he made an unwise attempt to reach for a handgun before officers relieved him of it. He was then taken into custody and booked at the Stokes County Jail on a laundry list of charges including assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.
As if that weren’t enough excitement, earlier this month officers also reported finding explosive devices at his home, which earned him an additional charge of possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Apparently, Larry had a hobby.
Brown is currently being held without bond at the Stokes County Detention Center. His court date has yet to be announced — giving him plenty of time to reflect on how love and retail employment don’t always mix well with firearms.
*