Busted! Should Coupon Fight Lead to No Country Buffet for Old Man?

Busted! takes a look at the more unusual reports that the men and women of the Tinley Park Police Department respond to. Names have been withheld to protect the innocent, the guilty and the embarrassed.

There comes a time in every man's life when he needs to stand up to injustice. Like when a restaurant doesn't accept your coupon.

A 73-year-old man was accused of assaulting a manager Nov. 3 at Old Country Buffet, 16060 S. Harlem Ave., after the manager wouldn't accept the customer's coupon, according to a police report.

No one was charged in the incident—the manager was worried what corporate headquarters would think, and the customer was given a trespass notice. And the details of what actually transpired as told by three people involved in the skirmish read like the Tinely Park version of Rashomon. The following is what they told police.

The cashier: This restaurant employee told police the customer and his wife became angry when they were told by the manager that their coupon was invalid. After that revelation, the customer confronted the manager face to face, and the manager fell backward and couldn't get up, the report stated. He was on the floor when police arrived, the report added.

The manager: His report to police matches the cashier's until the confrontation with the customer. The manager said the customer began yelling at him for not accepting the coupon, but then the man thought the manager called him a liar, the report stated. That's when the customer slapped the manager in the face with the back of his hand, which dropped the manager to the floor, the report continued. He stayed on the floor because of previous knee injury, but he refused medical attention when paramedics arrived, according to the report.

The customer: Again, the story stays the same until the customer and the manager square off over the coupon. According to the customer's statement, the manager called his wife a liar after she said another manager had validated the coupon in the past. The customer confronted the manager over his remark and pushed him, because he feared the manager was going to assault him, the report stated.

The police report did not indicate what kind of discount the coupon offered. Maybe it was for all-you-can-eat knuckle sandwiches.

Police report information is provided by the Tinley Park Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.