Wal-Mart customer cusses out self-checkout machine, loses tooth in fight

Frustrated that he could not complete his transaction, a man began cussing out the machine in a self-checkout line at the Wal-Mart on West Kellogg on Monday afternoon, police said.

That didn’t sit well with another customer, Capt. Doug Nolte said.

The 35-year-old male confronted the angry customer at about 2:30 p.m. in the store at 6110 W. Kellogg.

The dispute continued as the men left the store, Nolte said. A third man joined the argument and eventually punched the man who had cursed.

The punch knocked out a tooth of the 36-year-old man, who was “was throwing out some racial slurs after the fight started,” Nolte said.

That language “heightened the confrontation,” he said. The man who threw the punch was a 40-year-old man not in the store at the time the incident began.

The puncher and the man who confronted the angry customer both left the scene before officers arrived, Nolte said. There were several witnesses, he added.

This story was originally published March 4, 2014 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Wal-Mart customer cusses out self-checkout machine, loses tooth in fight."