Florida man yells ‘I have a cold’ before spitting in Walmart clerk’s face during item return dispute: FCSO
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Florida man arrested after Walmart dispute
A Florida man is facing charges after deputies say he spit on a Walmart clerk during a dispute over an item return.
PALLM COAST, Fla. – A convicted felon who was recently caught on camera hurling racial slurs and spewing profanity at a deputy after allegedly spitting on a Walmart clerk has not learned to manage his anger, according to the Flagler County sheriff.
A deputy was called to a Palm Coast Walmart shortly before 6:45 p.m. on Friday to investigate a battery complaint.
The deputy says he spoke with a Walmart employee who said she was involved in an altercation with a customer, later identified as 37-year-old Channing Cooks, when he tried to return an item without a receipt.
The employee told the investigator that Cooks lunged at her and repeatedly spat in her face while yelling, ‘I have a cold!’
Cooks is accused of spitting on a Walmart clerk. Courtesy: Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
Investigators used the agency’s real-time crime center to track Cooks’ vehicle at a CVS.
Deputies say Cooks told them that the Walmart situation was a misunderstanding and that he inadvertently sneezed on the victim while talking with her about exchanging baby formula.
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After looking at surveillance video from the Walmart, deputies arrested Cooks for battery. During the drive to the jail, cameras captured him shouting profanity and racial slurs at a deputy, but after arriving, authorities say he apologized.
While being taken to jail, Cooks is seen on camera yelling profanity and racial slurs at a deputy. Courtesy: Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
Cooks, who served 10 years in prison after being convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in Putnam County and in 2006, was arrested in 2018 for domestic battery and in 2019 for violation of probation.
“This convicted felon did not learn a thing about managing his anger since his time in prison,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “His violent behavior escalated what should have been a simple discussion about returning a product, instead he spit in an employee’s face and continued to berate a Deputy Sheriff on his way to jail. He had his chance to cool down at the Green Roof Inn, but if he doesn’t learn to avoid altercations, he will find himself back behind bars.”
Former Walmart employee arrested for shooting man during argument in Walmart employee area
May 1, 2025
Staff report
Updated at 3:30 p.m. with information from a Gainesville Police Department release
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Drevon Javaris Parker, 26, has been charged with attempted homicide after allegedly shooting a Walmart employee during an argument in an employee-only area of the Butler Plaza Walmart (2900 SW 42nd Street).
According to a witness, Parker, a former Walmart employee who was terminated in 2024, went into the employee area and began talking to him about “an unknown female dispute.”
According to this witness, the 36-year-old victim, his wife, and his children also walked into the employee area, and the witness reportedly said he told the victim’s wife she could not be in the employee area, but she started yelling at Parker “because [Parker] was accusing the [victim] of something unknown.”
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A second witness reportedly said that after the victim and his family entered the employee area, the victim’s wife “began to argue and yell” while looking for the second witness (the report does not state why she was looking for the second witness).
The victim’s wife reportedly said she went to the store with the victim to shop and they saw Parker and got into a verbal argument, so the second witness told them to go to the employee area.
The two witnesses and the victim’s wife all reportedly said the victim punched Parker during their argument, and then Parker pulled a pistol from his hoodie pocket and shot the victim several times.
A third witness did not see the shooting but ran up to the victim after the shooting and asked him who shot him. According to that witness, the victim said, “Drey shot me, he’s trying to take my life.”
A press release from Gainesville Police Department states that the argument between the victim, his wife, and Parker began outside the store and continued inside, where it escalated into a physical fight.
A Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer wrote that surveillance video shows Parker, the victim, the victim’s wife, the witnesses, and other employees in the back room; Parker, the victim, the victim’s wife, and the second witness are all seen arguing with each other, with the first witness trying to separate them. The video reportedly shows the victim punching Parker once and then stumbling forward while Parker turns and follows the victim while shooting at the victim. After the shooting, Parker reportedly picks up a shoe that had fallen off and runs away.
The arrest report states that the victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition; he underwent surgery and is in stable condition, as of 3:30 p.m. on May 1.
Parker reportedly ran out of the store, got in his car, drove out of the parking lot, then drove back into the parking lot and parked his car; the arresting officer reported that the pistol used to shoot the victim was tan, and when Parker’s car was found in the parking lot, there was a tan pistol in plain sight in the passenger seat.
After parking his car, Parker reportedly tried to go back into the store and was confronted by a GPD officer, who told him to get on the ground and searched him for weapons. At the time, that officer did not know Parker was involved in the shooting, and the situation was chaotic because people were running out of the store, thinking there was an active shooter. Parker reportedly did not speak to any officers and left Walmart at some point, but he turned himself in at GPD headquarters a short time later.
Post Miranda, Parker reportedly declined to answer questions.
Parker has been charged with attempted homicide. Information on his criminal history and bail will be added when it is available.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
