NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — An injury sustained in a violent scuffle inside a Midtown Starbucks could spell the premature end of an NYPD sergeant’s career.
Sgt. Timothy Wall says it all could have been prevented if the coffee chain had just listened to him. He claims he warned them for over a year if they didn’t change their policy when it comes to giving free food to people who are emotionally disturbed, someone was going to get hurt.
He just had no idea it would be him.
Sergeant Timothy Wall. (CBS2)
Ever since he was a little boy Sgt. Wall had his sights set on the pride and prestige of becoming a police officer.
“My dad’s a cop, my brother’s a cop, it’s something that’s important to our family,” Wall told CBS2’s Jessica Layton.
Continuing to fulfill that dream with the NYPD is in jeopardy now because of an injury he sustained on the job seven-months-ago on the second floor of a Midtown Starbucks.
“I’m 33-years-old and newly married and it might be the end of the career that I love,” Wall said.
On September 28th, 2017, Wall responded to a call for “a disturbed and violent individual” at the popular coffee shop at 39th Street and 8th Avenue. It’s a spot Wall says is notorious for complaints of harassment from disorderly men.
“Assaults at the location, drug use in the bathroom,” he said.
On that particular day it was a 24-year-old homeless man who was making threats, unhappy with the free croissant he had just gotten from employees.
“He said he wanted to kill everyone at the location,” Wall said. “He went to grab the bag stating he was going to kill everyone… We didn’t know what was in the bag, so we couldn’t take the risk.”
While restraining the combative man, Wall says his shoulder popped out of its socket and stayed that way for 45 minutes. He had surgery in February and now goes to physical therapy three times a week.
On top of that, he says he’s in pain every day.
“I tore my labrum and I have seven anchors in my right shoulder,” Wall said.
Now, the 10-year veteran is suing Starbucks. He says for more than a year he repeatedly warned managers that handing out free food and drinks to emotionally disturbed people in the store could be dangerous.
He says he even offered to help set up a different method for helping the hungry.
“I just feel like it was their negligence that led to me getting hurt,” Wall said.
In papers filed in court, Starbucks blamed the injuries on “culpable conduct” and “assumption of risk.” In a statement they told CBS2, “No free food was provided nor precipitated this incident.”
The young sergeant says he was called to the Midtown shop too many times to know that simply isn’t the case. Now, he fears he’s facing retirement at 33-years-old.
Starbucks does have a security guard inside the location, but there was one here the day Wall was assaulted. He says the guard didn’t do much other than point to the problem.
Wall is currently on restricted duty behind a desk and figures he’ll be placed on disability in the coming months. As for the 24-year-old homeless man, he was arrested for assault that day but wasn’t in custody long. He was arrested again recently in connection to a string of burglaries.
The NYPD picked him up inside, of all places, a Starbucks.
“Starbucks does have a security guard inside the location, but there was one here the day Wall was assaulted. He says the guard didn’t do much other than point to the problem.”
I don’t know why these people are called security guards, they could not guard a piece of cheese against a mouse. They just get to wear a uniform which makes them think they look important, but when push comes to shove, they push and shove to get out of the way and let someone else take care of the problem. Total waste of money.
Don’t arrest these homeless drug addicts, but send them to a deserted island with food, equipment, and shelter, but no drugs. They can build their own society and can’t hurt other citizens.
Go Dutch Brothers!!
Starbucks created the problem, but then it wants somebody else to solve the problem at his own risk? The officer was proactive in trying to solve the problem. Too late Starbucks. You never listened.
I wish I could have read the entire article. Some sight impaired readers must increase the browser magnification. This site puts the video right over the words and does not allow it to be dismissed.
Leave food on floor at subway station, you get rats. Give away food or money, you attract human trash. If don’t like the term human trash, I dare you to place your loved one within 10 feet of one.
So basically, across USA, being homeless is a get out of jail free card ?
….someone always pays the price for liberal failures….
I used to go to this Starbucks location a lot and had to stop going because of the terrible customer service.
Seems their customer service is pretty good if you do not have any money.
NY ‘s finest there???? _
“Good morning, Midtown South Precinct, Sgt. Turner speaking, how may I help you?”
“Hi, this is the Starbucks on Eighth Ave. … ”
A liberal is someone that hasn’t been mugged yet!
What is the status of Starbucks’ announced plan to hire 10,000 refugees and 25,000 veterans. I know it was supposed to be over several years, but would like an update on how far along they are.
While my heart goes out to Sgt. Timothy Wall, it’s doubtful he has a winable case. Starbucks should offer him a million dollar a year contract to improve security at all their locations in lieu of legal proceedings.
Starbucks is the train wreck that happens when you let Toxic Feminists run the HR department and set policy. Soon Starbucks will be out of business due to their own stupidity. Good. Their coffee is expensive robbery anyways.
This eventually will evolve into the public safety measure of closure of all StarBucks.
What do you mean this does not address the issue? You wanna pay the expense of running al the treatment facilities that were to replace the closed out State run central treatment facilities.?Do want to pay the expense of dealing with all the lawsuits filed on the infringement of the rights of the people being forced into treatment against their will? No. Starbucks has to go.
Hope he wins and sets a new trend for officers put in danger un-necessarily by merchants who refuse to comply with actions that put all of us at risk.
Another reason to avoid Starbucks. I’m glad I don’t like their coffee. I don’t need to go to a dangerous place to drink overpriced, burnt coffee.
“Starbucks does have a security guard inside the location, but there was one here the day Wall was assaulted. He says the guard didn’t do much other than point to the problem.”
Not a security guard, a security MONITOR.
Most “security guards” are only security monitors. They are not supposed to get physically involved, and for what little they are paid, they shouldn’t. “Detect, deter, report,” was what we were taught at Burns. I had a company illegal piece in my pocket, but that was for self defense, and maybe stopping a mortal assault (at the cost of my job) on someone. I never had to draw it.
If I was this cop’s jury, he’d be sipping coffee bean on the beach for the rest of his life.
StarButts = Morons.
Just another example of the fine city Commissar De blasio is running. I am sure he and his mentally ill constituents will blame the cop. The Commissar is good at that.
Time to criminalize homelessness after given 1 chance to clean up. Otherwise, a year in the slammer until they have kicked their drug addiction.
Frivolous lawsuit looking for a deep pocket. Line of duty injury and a third party/property owner is not responsible
Cops need to just not answer the call and let the libtards in Starbucks get stabbed, unfortunately it’s the only way to affect a liberal, when it happens to them only then do they get it.
All of these mentally ill and all the illegals should be assigned to a liberal as their charge. they want them, make them responsible. If they have a sanctuary city, then when the individual is released from police custody they don’t call ICE, they look up the liberal at the top of the list, take the individual to them and then they are that liberals responsibility to house, feed, and keep out of trouble. They will become that liberals new 15 year old child. Anything they do, that liberal has to deal with it like it was their kid. There problem solved!!! It’s what they want, here you go. It seems like the perfect solution to me. I don’t know why DeBlasio hasn’t done it already.
A city run by liberal trash attracts trash in my view!!!
A city lax on crime attracts criminals.
Howard Schultz is worth $3 billion. He could keep 1% ($30 million) of that and still give 594,000 homeless people $5,000 each. Why won’t you do it, Howard? Howard??
If only NYC had more liberals and more Democrats running things, this kind of thing would never happen…
Said no one, ever.
Liberals always think their good intentions are all that count. They never think of the consequences.
I’m ashamed of Starbucks for not giving the homeless person a job instead of an unsatisfying croissant. I always thought Starbucks knew more than me on how to handle these sensitive issues, after all, they make good coffee.Live and learn…..
We can thank JFK , the ACLU, our elected officials and ourselves for this. This person sounds like he needs to be in a long term mental facility. Except, JFK shut them down with his Community Mental Health Act, The ACLU gave these people the “right” to be homeless. You could set some of these people with nice places to live and they would be right back on the street in no time. This person who attack the police officer sounds like he should have already been in a long term mental facility. I work as a nurse and specialize in mental health. We can never send patients to long term state facilities because of the lack of beds. This country badly needs to rethink this issue.
Catch and release works well in Democrat cities.
The only way to deal with the L!BTard is to focking spring leaks in them….lots of leaks.
The cop has a club, taser and gun. Why is he fighting with criminals?
@Frank Muller: Are you effing kidding me? He’d have been attacked by an angry mob, banned from policing for life and considered an abusive officer, and sued, had he used any kind of weapon at all on the guy. Damned if you do; Damned if you don’t.
As others have said, he would have probably been accused of excessive force if he used a club, taser, or gun.
Guess you didn’t hear, thanks to Obama for the past few years cops are now the bad guys.
What a glorious future the left envisions. Food being scattered over homeless camps and humans running out to eat it like animals, fighting and growling. You can’t blame them, they went to public schools and only learned to hate conservatives and vote for the zoo keepers.
sounds to me like hes got a case here.
People are like bears. You don’t feed them because they are likely to attack if you run out of food. People tell each other, free food there and then you are over run by the never-do-wells,.
Starbucks had better hope I’m not on the jury. Why do liberals hate the police and military, and love homeless criminals and illegals?
liberals applaude starbucks giving free food to criminals and condemn the police for using dna to catch the serial rapist and murderer original nightstalker. pathetic
So another city worker keeps his job / pension / benefits while getting permanent disability – and being rewarded for it all with with a (probable) settlement from a national coffee chain. A millennial at that learning all about how to commit fraud, corruption & malfeasance with a little shoulder pain.
I guess the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.
It’s great to live here in NYC where all the new ‘heroes’ and ‘bravest’ have learned from their parents how to keep the golden goose alive and well.
My hat’s off to you – terrific job!!
You’re what one might describe as a “special kind of stupid”.
*hugs* hang in there
“So another city worker keeps his job / pension / benefits while getting permanent disability – and being rewarded for it all with with a (probable) settlement from a national coffee chain.”
Did I miss something? FWIR, he’s on desk duty, facing the possibility of forced retirement due to the injury. Where did it say he’d keep his job AND get disability??? I think you need to switch to decaf Sunshine
Your name looks like you are into kiddieporn. repulsive.
Insulting the people who are trying to catch you won’t get you far.
Unless you are moving to Bangkok.