Port Charlotte, FL – A grocery store checkout dispute spiraled into violence when a Port Charlotte man allegedly attacked a couple outside a Publix, blasting them in the face with bug spray, officials said.
Deputies responded around 2 p.m. Sunday, August 31, to the Publix on Cochran Boulevard after reports of an altercation. Investigators said Daniel John Kenel, 65, became upset with a woman in the checkout line when she told him she was already waiting for her husband and would not let him cut ahead.
As the couple placed their items on the conveyor belt, Kenel began unloading his groceries as well, sparking a heated argument. When the woman’s husband intervened, Kenel abandoned his cart and stormed out of the store.
Outside, Kenel allegedly repositioned his vehicle and waited. As the couple loaded their groceries, he ran up behind them and sprayed them both in the face with bug spray before fleeing. The male victim required medical treatment at a local hospital.
Deputies quickly located Kenel nearby, where the victims positively identified him. He refused to speak with investigators and was arrested on two counts of aggravated battery with great bodily harm.
Kenel was booked into the Charlotte County Jail on $2,000 bond and has since been released.
“This is a disgusting and cowardly act, and over what? Who checks out first at the grocery store?” Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement. “The level that this man took it to was dangerous and completely unnecessary.”
Key Points
- A 65-year-old man sprayed a couple in the face with bug spray outside a Publix in Port Charlotte.
- The attack followed a checkout line dispute inside the store.
- Daniel John Kenel was arrested on two counts of aggravated battery and later bonded out.
A grocery store checkout squabble turned toxic in more ways than one.