Photo Credit: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office
Royal Palm Beach, FL — Royal Palm Beach Police have dropped felony charges against a Florida man who drew his hand gun during an altercation with another shopper in a local Walmart.
According to the statement released by police, the altercation took place on July 12th at a Walmart store located at 9990 Belvedere Rd. Police said that the incident began over the fact that the man wasn’t wearing a mask.
Police reported that Vincent Scavetta, 28, was pushing his elderly father in a wheelchair inside the store when he was confronted by another customer. The man was angry that Scavetta wasn’t masked and shouted at Scavetta to ‘put on a mask.’
Walmart’s surveillance footage caught part of the incident and was shared far and wide. On the video, Scavetta can be seen pointing a gun at Christopher Estrada, who was holding his young daughter’s hand.
The police department put out an image of Vincent Scavetta as the bad guy of the incident. Local news took up the drumbeat that the man with the gun was dangerous:
Ten days later, Scavetta turned himself in to police on July 22nd. The police then arrested and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a firearm. He faced a $15,000 bail. He turned over his gun, and submitted his concealed weapons permit.
All Charges Dropped
But Palm Beach prosecutors today announced that they’re dropping all charges against Scavetta after eyewitnesses confirmed his account of the incident. Scavetta claimed that 46-year-old Christopher Estrada was the aggressor.
According to Scavetta, Estrada called out to him, telling him that he should put on a mask. The two began shouting at each other, trading insults. That’s when Estrada struck out at Scavetta with his umbrella, hitting him on the head. He also denied threatening to kill anybody.
Witness Edgar Moses told investigators he tried to intervene when the argument escalated into a shouting match, but he did not hear everything that was said.
The Royal Palm Beach prosecutor’s office said in court documents, “Although there was probable cause to make an arrest, the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution.
Meanwhile, Scavetta said that he was had worn a mask in the door of the Walmart, but it had gotten soaked in the rain. The condensation from the wet mask made it very difficult to see with his glasses on and much more difficult to breathe. His father in the wheelchair he was pushing was wearing a bandana pulled over his mouth.
The Media Always Tries To Smear The Good Guy With The Gun
This is another example of the leftist media making an assumption that the person who drew a gun must be the bad guy of the story.
If they had reported this story differently, Scavetta might not have faced half a dozen headlines in his local community painting him as a dangerous menace.
Would we have done everything this guy did exactly how he did it? Nah, we’d have laughed off Estrada’s comments and walked away.
But that doesn’t give the media the right to try to ruin a man’s reputation and potentially his livelihood if he lost his job over these inflammatory headlines.