12/26/2003: 
Criminally Absurd
Man Beaten in Checkout Line Dispute
By Dave Newbart. Chicago Sun-Times
Matthew Baures loves Christmas, but he learned the hard way that there is very little holiday cheer while waiting in line at a Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve.
The 22-year-old Berwyn man was pummeled with a baseball bat and beaten by as many as four people after a dispute over a place in line at a Forest Park Wal-Mart.
They got into one line, and a girl began yelling at them they had cut in front of her. Baures and his friend argued with her, but let the girl go in front of them. The girl proceeded to allow what appeared to be her mother and friends to cut in front as well, but neither Baures nor his friend objected.
At one point the girl began staring at his friend "like she was going to kill her,'' Baures recalled, and they asked the girl's mother to ask the girl to stop. That led to an even bigger argument.
"This young kid comes up to me with a baseball bat, saying, 'What did you say to my sister?' '' Baures recalled. "He was holding the bat like he was going to hit me, so I grabbed the bat.''
Another man then punched him in the face, and he fell down. Several men began hitting, punching and kicking him in his face, ribs and back. His friend then jumped on top of him and said, "Please stop hitting.''
Yep, Wal-Mart. I never thought to hear of this type of thing happening at a Wal-Mart. What, with the sophistication of their cliental clientele and all.
