It was Wednesday, and James Morris was standing in the self-checkout at a Newnan Kroger with his 2-year-old son. The boy wanted a candy bar, and kept pestering his father for one, whining when he kept being told he couldn’t have one, the Newnan Times-Herald reported.
Not an uncommon occurrence at a grocery store. What police say happened next was a little more concerning.
As the boy kept asking for candy, a stranger allegedly grabbed the toddler on the arm, yanked him around and smacked him on the bottom.
Store employees quickly worked to separate the two, and the boy wasn’t hurt. Mostly he was surprised, Morris told the Newnan Times-Herald.
“He really just seemed astonished that this guy decided to spank him,” he told the paper. “He just looked at me and seemed confused by the whole thing.”
Morris spoke to police, who came in to speak with the man, later identified as 63-year-old Juan Guvarra Martinez.
Police said the man had bloodshot eyes and emitted a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage” as they spoke, and said the boy had been “doing something with a candy bar,” according to a report obtained by WXIA.
Police tried to place him under arrest but he resisted and was taken to the ground, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and body camera footage.
"Give me that arm, Juan," an officer can be heard saying in a body-cam video after Martinez is on the ground
"No," he replies.
"Yeah. Give me that arm or I'm gonna electrocute you," the officer says.
A few seconds later, officers were able to move the suspect's arm behind his back.
“We were able to grab his arm so it could be cuffed,” the report said, according to the paper. “We had to stand Juan up and escort him out the business.”
Once he was in the patrol car, he began kicking at the doors and windows and was taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital to be cleared for medical issues, the AJC reported.
He was then booked on several charges, including disorderly conduct, child cruelty, and simple battery, according to jail records.
No more groceries for him either. Kroger has also hit him with a ban from the store by placing him on their ‘criminal trespass log,’ reported WXIA.
Martinez remains in the Coweta County Jail awaiting his court date on Feb. 15.