Inset: Timothy Coe during an alleged confrontation with a mother in a Walmart parking lot (KOIN). Background: The Walmart in Vancouver, Washington, where the alleged assault occurred (KOIN).
A 79-year-old Washington man is accused of punching a mother in the face during a confrontation in a Walmart parking lot after she allegedly tapped his vehicle to warn him that he was about to strike her while she placed her infant in a car seat.
Authorities identified the suspect as Timothy Coe, who was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault.
Deputies with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office responded at 10:13 a.m. on Nov. 10 to a Walmart in the 9000 block of NE Highway 99 in Hazel Dell after receiving a report of an assault, according to a press release.
The caller told dispatchers that a man had punched her in the face and shoved her to the ground, the sheriff’s office said. She was with her infant at the time of the alleged attack.
The woman stayed at the scene until deputies arrived. She provided them with video and photographs of the suspect and his vehicle, including its license plate number.
The woman told investigators she was loading her infant into a car seat when another vehicle attempted to pull into the adjacent parking space. Concerned that the car would hit her, she said she tapped it to alert the driver.
According to the woman, the driver reacted angrily to the tap.
“According to the victim, the driver, later identified as Coe, exited his vehicle and an argument followed,” the release states. “The victim reported that Coe punched her on the right side of her face with his left fist and grabbed her arms. Deputies observed redness on her face, swelling around her eyelid, and bruising on her arms.”
A witness stepped in and separated Coe from the woman, according to the sheriff’s office.
The next morning, deputies went to Coe’s Vancouver home and arrested him without incident.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, later gave a statement to Portland CBS affiliate KOIN. She said Coe was backing toward her open car door when she tapped his vehicle because it nearly struck the door. She said he quickly escalated the confrontation, prompting her to begin recording with her phone.
“The man struck my phone, causing the recording to stop, and punched me in the face,” she reportedly wrote. “I had gotten my son inside the vehicle and closed and locked the door, but he had not yet been buckled into his car seat. The man then came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, grabbed my hands, and physically restrained me while attempting to take my phone.”
The woman said she screamed at Coe to get off her.
“I kicked, swung my elbows, and scratched in an attempt to get free,” she wrote. “I was unable to move freely or access my phone to call for help while being physically restrained.”
Coe was booked into the Clark County Jail, although he was no longer listed as being in custody by Friday afternoon. It was not immediately known when he was due in court.
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