Heated Exchange Caught On Tape At Calumet City Liquor Store; 'He Basically Threatened To Kill Us'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- He calls it outrageous behavior.
What a suburban man thought would be a simple trip to the store ended with police being called and a clerk charged.
It's a story you'll see only on CBS 2. Suzanne Le Mignot reports from Calumet City with troubling cell phone video of what happened.
Shaquille Hawkins said he and his uncle went to River Oaks Liquors in Calumet City Sunday to buy Gatorade.
When his debit card didn't work, he said the man in this video grabbed the Gatorade from the counter.
"He flipped out out of nowhere. We exited out. We said a couple remarks, because we were angry or whatever," said Hawkins. "He basically threatened to kill us and he called us the n-word."
In the video, the store owner reached down and said: "I got a gun. I kill you n*****!"
You also hear the store owner say the f-word to both men on the video.
CBS 2 went to get store owner Yang Kim's side of the story. CBS 2 also showed him the video.
"No. I am sorry," said Kim. When asked if he had a gun behind the counter, Kim said, "No! I don't have gun!"
Kim showed CBS 2 the voided receipt. He said Hawkins pounded on the counter when his debit card wasn't accepted and threw pebbles at him and threatened to kill him.
"He throw stone there," said Kim. "He told first he kill me. So I follow answer, yeah, 'I kill you.' "
Hawkins and his uncle denied threatening Kim and said they walked right out of the store. Kim said his surveillance cameras inside the store weren't working during the confrontation.
Hawkins and his uncle plan to file a lawsuit.
The assistant chief at the Calumet City Police Department said the man in the cell phone video was issued a ticket for disorderly conduct and he's going to have to go to court.
