“This is an ‘only in Miami’ story… you can’t make this up.”
No, that’s not a quote from me to intro this article, that’s a quote from Doral Police Spokesperson Rey Valdes. I imagine he knows first hand just how damn crazy Florida is… and this one is a doozy.
According to the Miami Herald, a man walked into his local Bath & Body Works inside of Miami International Mall in Doral, Florida, armed with a can of bear spray.
He stuffed a bunch of candles in a bag and made his escape, but when he was confronted by store employees for blatantly stealing, he used the bear spray to fend them off, as well as spraying other customers on his way out.
In total, he burned about 35 people, 15 of which were store employees.
The store manager was hospitalized after taking a direct hit to the face, and many others needed emergency medical treatment.
The man who made off with the candles, reportedly described as a heavy-set man, fled into a yellow cab and is now looking at up to 35 felonies including several counts of armed robbery and several counts of aggravated battery for the customers he injured with a “chemical agent.”
He’s still on the run at the moment.
I don’t know what the street value of a Cucumber Melon candle is, but this seems like an awful lot of trouble to steal some candles? Is the candle black market hot right now? Is the cab driver an accessory?
I have so many questions, so little answers, but once again… Florida does not disappoint.
Of course, bear spray is used to repel attacking bears in the wild and has been utilized countless times to save the lives of folks out in bear country.
However last year, a pot shop employee in Washington State used it fend off would-be robbers at his dispensary.
