A man was arrested after striking a truck driver with his car during a dispute over a booted big rig at a Walmart in Perry, Georgia, on Tuesday.
The dispute began at the Walmart Supercenter on 1009 St. Patricks Drive around 6 p.m. when truck driver Arthur Emons called in a wrecker service to help remove the boot that had been placed on his truck in the Walmart parking lot by an employee of Buckhead Parking Enforcement.
According to a report in the Macon Telegraph, 23 year old Buckhead Parking Enforcement worker Mason Parker was trying to use his Kia to prevent the wrecker truck from leaving the scene when he reportedly struck Emons in the legs with his vehicle. Emons began yelling that he had been hit by the car.
Perry police arrived at the scene and placed Parker under arrest. He has since been charged with aggravated assault.
Emons did not seek medical treatment after the incident.
The Walmart in Perry has become infamous in online trucking communities over recent months because of their aggressive policy of booting trucks in the parking lot.
In April of 2018, it was reported that Walmart had hired Buckhead Parking Enforcement to patrol their parking lot and boot tractor trailers that are in violation of the 30 minute truck parking policy. Drivers who have been booted must pay a $500 fine to have the boot removed from their vehicles. Drivers who fail to pay the fine will have their trucks towed.
Since Buckhead began booting trucks this spring, Perry police report that they’ve been called out to several disputes in the Walmart parking lot. “Then it usually winds up in an argument, and we get called,” said Perry Police Captain Heath Dyke.
Numerous truckers have also taken to social media to express their disappointment and displeasure with the booting policy.