Mary Alday, of Crawfordville, Fla., is accused of waving a loaded gun at Walmart employees after her dollar-off Internet coupon was refused.(Photo: Wakulla County Sheriff's Office)
By Michael Winter, USA TODAY
A Florida woman is in jail on charges she threatened Walmart workers
with a gun after the store refused her Internet dollar-off coupon.
Mary
Frances Alday of Crawfordville, near Tallahassee, was arrested Friday
and charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
and one count of battery, for allegedly ramming an assistant manager
with a shopping cart. She was also charged with resisting arrest and
battery of an officer, according to the arrest report.
The Wakulla County Sheriff's news release says Alday is 61 years old, but the arrest report states she was born in June 1961, which would make her 51.
Alday
became "extremely upset" that the Crawfordville Walmart would not
accept her coupon and continued to "verbally abuse" the assistant
manager while being escorted out, the deputy's report says. When the
supervisor said she was going to take down Alday's license plate number,
Alday replied, "If you follow me, I have something in my car for you."
She
then emerged from her 2011 Ford Escape SUV with a holstered handgun
that she began waving at four employees, who went back inside "due to
being in fear for their lives," the arrest reports says. She then backed
out of the parking lot and fled.
A sheriff's detective soon
stopped Alday and was joined by a deputy, who asked Alday if she had a
gun. "Yes, I have a concealed weapons permit, and you are not taking my
gun," the arrest report states.
Alday refused to get out of her
vehicle, and the deputy twice stunned her with his Taser after she
reached toward the passenger seat and continued to struggle. The
deputies then pulled her from the SUV and handcuffed her.
The gun - a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 Airweight - was found in the center console.