Michael Dale Hudson, 56, now faces a number of charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, resisting arrest and criminal mischief
A man was arrested in Florida after he drove a golf cart through the front doors of a Hillsborough County Walmart and struck several customers.
Just days before the same store had to be evacuated after a man told an employee over the phone he was five minutes away and was going to ‘shoot up the building’ – 20 hours after the Massacre in an El Paso Walmart.
Michael Dale Hudson, 56, was captured on surveillance camera bursting through the entrance of the supermarket on Gibsonton Drive, narrowly avoiding an elderly shopper with two deputies in pursuit on foot.
One of the officers is armed with a stun gun and is pointing it at Hudson as she gives chase.
Hudson’s bizarre joy-ride would go on to endanger several more shoppers, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s said, before coming to a shattering halt after he crashed into a cash register.
Hudson, 56, was captured on surveillance camera bursting through the entrance of the supermarket on Gibsonton Drive
He narrowly avoids an elderly shopper as two deputies follow in hot pursuit on foot
The incident occurred shortly after 12:30pm on Thursday, when deputies responded to reports of a man on a golf cart blocking the entryway to the Walmart’s liquor store, refusing to move until he could speak to a manager.
Police were summoned, but as the deputies starting speaking with Hudson he suddenly sped away from them without warning.
Hudson first accelerated through a crowded pedestrian area outside the store, forcing multiple people to jump out the way of his path, and then crashed through the glass doors.
His path of havoc continued into the check-out area of the store, clipping several panicked customers with the cart before crashing head-first into a cashier’s desk.
Hudson was injured in the crash and taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment. Several customers also had to be treated for injuries following the crash, though nobody was reported to be seriously hurt.
Hudson first accelerated through a crowded pedestrian area outside the store, forcing multiple people to jump out the way of his path, and then crashed through the glass doors
His path of havoc continued into the check-out area of the store, clipping several panicked customers with the cart before crashing head-first into a cashier’s desk
Brandon Daniels told WFTS-TV he had to dodge the golf cart, saying he was unsure how to respond to Hudson’s actions. ‘[It was] either the exit sign or the sporting goods section to get a weapon, I didn’t know,’ he said, adding: ‘It’s something you would not expect.’
Witness Jason Waldrop said the suspect appeared to be having trouble breathing after the crash.
‘Not only did he put his own self in danger, he also put the people around him in danger and it could have been my three-year-old,’ Waldrop said.
It remains unclear if the suspect was hit with a stun gun as deputies gave chase.
Just days earlier on Sunday, the same Walmart was evacuated after an employee received a threat from a man who claimed he was planning to ‘shoot up’ the store.
The man behind the chilling phone call was later identified as Wayne Lee Padgett, 31.
Just days earlier on Sunday, the same Walmart was evacuated after an employee received a threat from a man who claimed he was planning to ‘shoot up’ the store. The man behind the chilling phone call was later identified as Wayne Lee Padgett (right), 31
Police described the threat as a ‘copycat’ after it was made in the wake of two mass shootings this past weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that saw at least 31 people killed.
Despite occurring in the same store, authorities say Padgett and Hudson’s cases are not linked.
Hudson was later escorted from the hospital to the Hillsborough County Jail and now faced several charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, resisting arrest and criminal mischief.
He remains in custody in lieu of a $5,000 bail bond.