Man smashes Home Depot checkout stand with pry bar he was trying to buy

By BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTER

Well, let's look at it this way: At least, this guy wasn't buying a blowtorch.

But that age-old adage -- that patience is a virtue -- somehow slipped the mind of a man shopping at Home Depot on Utah Avenue South in Seattle on Thursday.

Around 9 p.m., the man was in line at a self-service checkout stand, ready to buy a pry bar and hacksaw, according to a Seattle police report.

But as a manager told an officer, the man accidentally hit the button for Spanish on the computer screen.

And that was the tipping point for this consumer.

He became "frustrated that the machine was speaking Spanish," the police report says.

So, instead of asking for customer service help, he let loose a blow with the pry bar and shattered the computer. He ran from the store and made a beeline to some nearby railroad tracks, the report said.

A Seattle police officer searched for the customer. But he had vanished.

The manager believes he caused about $10,000 in damages. He left the pry bar in his shopping cart.

P-I reporter Brad Wong can be reached at 206-448-8137 or bradwong@seattlepi.com.

Source: SeattlePI