Posted on 10/05/2007 6:07:30 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
FORT WORTH -- A store cashier struck a deaf customer in the head with a crowbar after he mistook the man's silence for rudeness and disrespect, police said.
The cashier, Ricky Benard Young, 20, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The customer, Cody Goodnight, 31, suffered "a large knot" on his head during the incident, which occurred Saturday at the Family Dollar Store at 4117 E. Lancaster Ave.
"I can't believe someone would hit him for not speaking," said Goodnight's mother, Kay Goodnight. "When you're deaf, you don't make a point of starting conversations with people."
Young's defense attorney, Mark Price, said Thursday that he was recently assigned the case and declined to comment.
Kay Goodnight called police after her injured son returned home from the store late Saturday morning. When officers arrived, she translated her son’s story to officers using sign language, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a police spokesman.
Cody Goodnight said he had walked several blocks from their house to the Family Dollar to buy a soft drink for his 5-year-old son. Inside the store, he put the soda on the counter to pay.
The cashier tried to speak to him but got angry when Goodnight didn't respond, Goodnight told police. The cashier threw Goodnight's change at him, scattering it on the floor.
As Goodnight picked it up, the cashier hit him in the side of the head with the crowbar, Goodnight said.
Officers went to the store, where Young immediately asked if they were there about what "happened earlier," Sullivan said. The cashier told officers that he had tried to start a friendly conversation with Goodnight but that Goodnight wouldn't acknowledge him.
At one point, Young told officers, Goodnight mumbled something that Young thought was racial in nature, Sullivan said. Young told officers he struck Goodnight because he thought Goodnight was going to assault him.
After officers told Young that Goodnight was deaf and unable to communicate verbally, Young responded "Oh," Sullivan said.
"Upon further investigation, it appeared the suspect became frustrated when the victim wouldn't respond or acknowledge his attempts to converse," Sullivan said. "He became outraged and struck the victim in an unwarranted attack." The store's surveillance tape was erased or taped over before the officers got there, Sullivan said.
A corporate spokesman for the Family Dollar Store did not return a phone message Thursday.
Cody Goodnight was treated at the hospital for his injury but still has pain in his head and neck, Kay Goodnight said Thursday.
Deaf since the age of 2, when he suffered a high fever, Goodnight speaks in guttural sounds -- "deaf speak" as his mother calls it.
His stepfather, Barry Adair, said Goodnight doesn't like talking to strangers.
"He gets embarrassed because people make fun of the way he talks," Adair said. "He's not trying to be rude or unfriendly. You just can't understand him unless you're around him a lot."
Emily Robinson, a Fort Worth deafness resource specialist, said that while it is unusual for a deaf person to be attacked, misunderstandings are common. People sometimes take deaf people for rude when they are unresponsive, she said.
"It is a really big problem," Robinson said. "Businesses should be professional and sensitive to deaf people. There are training workshops about the deaf culture and what to expect in interactions with us."
Yeah, my wife often does the same thing you do when that happens to me. Sometimes I leave the store and look back to see her explaining to the clerk or cashier that I’m deaf. Most of the time they are apologetic if they made a rude comment to me that I didn’t hear. Sometimes they continue to be rude. When that happens my wife and I go to the store manager and let them know what happened. If that doesn't work I get my crowbar out and hit them over the head with it. (Just kidding.) ;^).
Hope all is well with you. Been a while since we crossed paths.
I’d sue the hell out of family dollar!
“A dear friend of mine who was blind once remarked to me that she would rather have been blind than deaf. Surprised at the notion, I asked her why. She said that being blind, she can at least communicate with the world through her ears; she felt that deafness is a terribly isolating disability.”
Helen Keller once said that she would rather be blind than deaf. She explained that “blindness cuts you off from things while deafness cuts you off from people”. Very true.
From the story, the victim dislikes speaking with strangers because they routinely make fun of the way he talks.
No, actually you brought it up in your first post. Here’s what you said:
“A little comon sense is needed on both sides.”
Then you went on to say:
“Suppose the clerk had greeted you instead of your wife, and it was you who was rude to the cleck by ignoring her.................”
Yes, suppose that was the case, how would you have suggested the guy with the crowbar deal with this incident?
Then you said:
“Unless the deaf hang a sign around their neck, some awkward moments are sure to occur.”
So that’s it? Deaf people will just have to expect getting their head bashed in occasionally by idiots who have a chip on their shoulder and don’t want to be dissed?
What’s your common sense suggestion for deaf people who might be put into situations like this? I’d really like to know.
Hate crime?
The more I read this story, the madder I get.
“The cashier tried to speak to him but got angry when Goodnight didn’t respond, Goodnight told police. The cashier threw Goodnight’s change at him, scattering it on the floor.
As Goodnight picked it up, the cashier hit him in the side of the head with the crowbar, Goodnight said.”
So not only did Goodnight suffer the indignity of having his money thrown in his face and having to pick it up off the floor, he also gets creamed in the head with a crowbar. This poor fella must have thought the whole world had gone crazy.
The guy in post 24 infered that he wanted to do a whole lot more than just inform the cleck of her error. "she turned all shades of red and apologized. Wanting to display more dignity than that little tart ever could, I walked away"
She had already shown her embarassment at her mistake by 'turning all shades of red'. What more should she have done? Go over and apologize? Maybe, but doing that would have called even more attendtion to what was already a mistake in the eyes of #24. I can just hear it now "For Petes sake, that $^%*(*& clerk not only treated my wife rudely, but THEN, in front of the whole store blew it up into a big deal"
If anyone needed to be concerned about a crowbar to the head, based on the account, it would be the clerk, not the deaf lady.
What’s your common sense suggestion for deaf people who might be put into situations like this? I’d really like to know.
Based on the account of #24, nothing different. #24 might want to re-evaluate HIS reaction though.
BTWYou still haven't even acknowledged that the clerks reaction might be quite normal in the case of a hearing, but rude customer.
We aren’t even talking about the same clerk. I’m talking about the stupid clerk who hit the deaf guy with a crow bar and you’re talking about the guy in post 24 and his wife. Geez, who really is the deaf one here? LOL!
I’ve ONLY talked about post #24 in every one of my posts on this thread.
Check it out.
That’s why I mentioned that you needed reading comprehension in my earlier response to you.
dmw, all is good with me and my daughter. I didn’t realize you were a strictly ASL user. We had a great summer started off at Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and it just got better from there! Glad you are around, good to see you here!.
I have the double whammy. I'm deaf on one side, nearly deaf on the other, and was born with a face that appears to be always looking for a fight.
I will turn in a crowd to find someone giving me "the look" for not responding to them (I know it well by now) and try my best to look mentally challenged so they aren't tempted to take a swing.
“My father is almost completely deaf (old age). When I’m out with him, I’ve noticed that some people just don’t comprehend.
“
When I was a kid my friends called my dad “radar ears” because he didn’t like the noise of our constant ruckus in the backyard and would get quite testy.
Now in his old age he’s lost some hearing and is quite enjoyable to be around.
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