Supermarket Employee Saves Customer From Mugging, Literally Kicks Ass
You may not have expected to hear this, but even food news can be depressing. We try to publish the most fun, interesting, and somewhat optimistic stuff we can find here at The Takeout, but the number of terrible stories we sift through to find them is staggering. That is why I come across a story that is so pure, so good, so joyous, I cannot help myself from celebrating just a wee bit. People of earth, join me in raising a glass to Juwone Scott, the man who has thawed my icy heart and reminded me that, for all the hell there is in the world, there's a whole lotta good, too.
Scott works as a grocery bagger at Brookshire's Food & Pharmacy in Shreveport, Louisiana. When a man snatched a customer's purse, Scott, without hesitating, pursued the attacker. What the purse snatcher didn't know: Juwone Scott, who has autism, is a Special Olympics athlete. More specifically, he's a Special Olympics athlete who competes in weightlifting—currently he lifts about 700lbs.—as well in track and field.
As you may have guessed, the purse snatcher did not have a very good day.
In an interview with local ABC affiliate KTBS, Scott said gave his version of events. "I was talking to a customer to make sure she feels okay because I was praying for her and making sure she feels okay," he said. "And, after I was done praying with her, she was telling me how hard her day was. A few minutes later, there was the person snatching the purse right in front of me when I was getting ready to tell her something important."
Scott chased the purse snatcher across the parking lot, hopped a fence, and fought the attacked. He was punched and kicked in the face several times, but eventually bested the criminal, who dropped the purse and fled.
The victim, Crystal Cray, told KLSA news that Scott had sprang into action without knowing the true gravity of the situation: Cray was not only at Brookshire's to pick up groceries, but also to cash her first paycheck from her new job.
"My rent was in that purse. My apartment was in that purse. A couple took a chance on me, giving me a place to live while just starting a job...my house was in that purse."
When given the option of taking the following day off, Scott say that he was okay and wanted to go back to work. He says that he will continue to look out for all his customers because, as he told his mother Satara Scott, "they treat him like family".
"My concern was always someone would pick on him," Satara said. "I'm learning he's not the weak person just because he has autism. He can take care of himself."
See? Doesn't your day feel just an ounce better now?