Gun drawn in dispute over Whole Foods parking space, police say

Posted by Robert Morris at 1:34 pm business, crime, public safety, transportation

Jan 192012

The entrance of the Whole Foods parking garage. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)

The crowded parking conditions around Whole Foods in Uptown New Orleans has had many neighbors and customers up in arms, but one man got so mad last week that he literally pulled a gun, police said.

A Whole Foods customer met his wife at the grocery for lunch Jan. 11, then walked her back to her car in the parking lot afterward, according to an NOPD report. As he started toward his own car, he was confronted by a white man with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, who was very angry about his parking job, accusing him of parking over the yellow line marking his space, the report states.

The victim tried to get in his own car and drive away, but the angry man got into his own truck, a silver Ford F150 pickup, and blocked him in, the report states. The victim then saw the truck’s driver lean into the floor area and emerge from the pickup with a small blue-steel revolver partially concealed in a Crown Royal bag, the report states. The man with the gun asked if the victim wanted to get shot, and then left, police said.

The suspect has not been identified, and police are hoping to find video surveillance of the area that might show him or his vehicle. Anyone with information should call Second District detectives at 658-6020.

No employees were in the parking lot at the time, but Whole Foods is sharing all the information they have with police and cooperating with the investigation, said Kristina Bradford, a Whole Foods spokeswoman.

Nora

I have to say, crappy parking in a place where there’s limited parking makes me feel like yelling at people too. And if I had a gun, I’d probably flash it to make them listen.

Signed, I freaking HATE that parking lot.
- Matt
  
  just park at Pinkberry/chico’s. step out of your car and directly into the front door of whole foods. you even have a policeman on patrol for safety.
  - Destiny
    
    Parking at Pinkberry’s/Chico’s and walking across the street to Whole Food is illegal, and they will not only tow your car, but ticket you, immediately. Chico’s pays for a full-time security guard, as well, and he is more than happy to call NOPD out when he sees you walk across the street.
    That was really asinine, anyways. What about their customers? Maybe get over that whole park a block away and walk phobia and stop taking other parking spaces. The businesses with parking lots pay dearly for the extra space, and have to recoup that cost through their customers, who need those spots.
    Signed,
    I don’t even shop at Chico’s but at least I’m not a total jerk.
    - Matt
      
      destiny, that is NOT in any way illegal to park in a public parking lot. I go to Pinkberry weekly and my wife shops at chico’s. And who is supposedly issuing a ticket?lol!! a ticket, give me a break. if it isn’t from the city itself its a fake ticket which cannot be recouped. I’ll keep parking there like I always have. With NO problem
JK

Maybe it is just me, but the phrase “guns are literally drawn” leads me to think someone drew a picture of a gun. Maybe I am over thinking things.

Anyway, this is why I shop at Rouse’s. Hate the WF parking lot more than I hate their prices.
Patrick

i have definitely come close to having a panic attack several times attempting to park in this lot. i’m surprised this is the first time this has happened.
- Sneakers
  
  Guns, panic attacks, etc…. ride a bicycle for crying out loud!
http://www.slowsouthernstyle.com Christy Lorio

Maybe the gunman should have watched this video first: http://youtu.be/2UFc1pr2yUU
- Bennett
  
  Christy you are the best! That clip made my night, still laughing.
alli

Park further away and walk a block or two. Or ride your bike. This is not rocket science, people.
- LP
  
  word. whenever I hear people complaining about traffic/parking, I like to remind them there’s a wonderful invention called the bicycle. I realize that it’s not practical for everyone to bike everywhere at all times, but it really is not necessary to drive everywhere all the freakin’ time! besides, I don’t know about y’all but I can easily bike with one bag of groceries (which is about all I can afford from Whole Foods at a time…)
SHAYLA

Nora and Patrick….maybe you all should stop going to The Whole Food Store Uptown and go to the one in Metairie on Veterans Blvd…because I’m sure you all know parking is and have been a problem for years….
Da Channel

Not to go all NOLA.com on everybody, but I love how the gun mans race was included in the description.

Side note: Those driving F150s in Uptown have no right to complain about parking.
- alli
  
  Totally agreed. Giant trucks and SUVs are part of the reason it feels like there’s no room to park anywhere.
  
  Also, pulling a gun, really? If you’re that mad about someone’s parking job, just leave a note on their windshield that says, “You parked like a jerk!” I’ve done it before.
  - 504concerned
    
    You might consider that the person next to them didn’t leave enough space, which then has a domino effect on others. Have you considered why a parking space is worth getting so upset about?
    - Terry
      
      (As featured on Curb Your Enthusiasm)
- jahnola
  
  Some people are carpenters for a living smarty pants, tell the biz execs and soccer moms with their suvs to scale it back a mile or two…those fattys could go to work on skateboards(and maybe shed a pound)
Jean Hall

He should not have pulled a gun out to begin with! As someone else suggested park further along or WALK.
Cajundweeb

Oy, vey! What next?
Mike Mike

Funny, people complaining about the article telling the gunman’s race. When the shoe is on the other foot, I never hear complaining about that. Funny….
martine

JACKASS!!!! He is probably one of the many contractors around town he will be found. Or maybe he was just pissed that he payed to much for lunch. See what that organic food will do to a person…. Just kidding love Whole Foods.
- 30somethingcurmudgeon
  
  Yes, damn those contractors for daring to shop at our stores and drive on our streets. Don’t they know that’s what the Wendy’s down on Tchoup is for?
  
  *sarcasm off*
  - http://pistolette.net Pistolette
    
    Hahaha. So true. If only we didn’t need those plebs to work on our mansions, then we could just ban F150s and their hideous tools!
    - SoSnooty
      
      Yes, good help is so hard to find but still . . . the peasants are SO revolting.
YesItSucks

That parking lot and their ridiculous prices are why I don’t shop there.

Something to consider. In this climate of everyone having a gun and waving a gun and killing and shooting people over every little thing…
at the very least, maybe some total idiots in our society really will
think twice about every single thing they do.

The same snide creeps who slither around claiming they’re on
top because of “social darwinism” might find out they aren’t
quite as far up the food ladder as they thought they were.

Guns: The Great Levellers.
- SoSnooty
  
  Yes, and their smug sense of entitlement leaves them blind to the yellow lines that delineate parking spaces. Too bad you can’t shoot some people “jess a lil’ bit” to wake them to reality.
http://pistolette.net Pistolette

I can’t help it. This is hilarious. I want to make a “People of Whole Foods” website and video some of the crazy things people do in that parking lot. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle of sanity. The obvious problem is that the lot is designed terrible and cars are coming and going in the wrong direction in a very tight space. Add class conflict to that and you have a recipe for a gunfight. You’ve got the genuine Gaia worshippers, the construction workers and the obscenely rich all sneering in disgust at each other while they shop. And although I love to tease the hippies I have to side with them here. Nearly every time I’m in that hellish parking lot some Posh Spice trophy wife with her personal trainer in tow is backing out her Mercedes SUV onto a group of cyclists.
- SoSnooty
  
  With a bit of lemon and garlic, “smooshed” cyclists make a delicious high-protein dip . . . like hummus, very good with pita and perfect after an intense (ahem!) workout with one’s trainer.
Jean-Paul Villere

This is crazy. C-R-A-Z-Y. I find it very hard to believe

A) The victim couldn’t even get a partial plate number? But then they must not be so detail oriented because to park so badly to provoke a gun being drawn? C’mon – - – and

B) WF doesn’t have surveillance on their parking lot? Or even enough on the perimeter to see who’s coming and going!?

But really everything about this incident smacks of stupid on stupid. It’s a wonder it ended there – - -
booch

Lucky for the f-150 driver the car driver wasn’t armed. Legally, it would have been justifiable homicide if the car driver shot & killed the truck driver who retrieved a weapon, exited his vehicle and moved toward the car diver.
- FuckPeople
  
  My thoughts exactly. I would have run him over
  - UptownGunner
    
    Exactly. While he was half-assedly brandishing his weapon with the Crown Royal bag he probalby wouldn’t have noticed me pulling my silver .38 special with hollow points and levelling his ass like a moron.
    
    Don’t pull on one someone if you don’t mean it…you never know what they’ve got.
    
    And seriously? Blue? Those are so ghetto, man. Stay classy New Orleans.
504concerned

Disappointing to read comments that think that parking spot anger justifies violence. If it was in jest, it’s not funny. The class comments are inappropriate too. For those of us who are neighbors, Whole Foods has no business expanding; it’s destructive to the surrounding neighbors. What a shame Susan Guidry didn’t support those of us who have been here before WF.
- Lizardback
  
  It was a complete overreaction on the truck driver’s part. We don’t know the so-called class of either party involved. However, class cannot be ignored when shopping at Whole Foods. I agree that it is a very difficult location to work with, for neighbors and customers alike. Regardless, it’s there, and not moving unless it goes out of business I’m sure. As long as it is surrounded by houses, and businesses on the other side of Magazine, it will be a nightmare to park there. Please don’t flash your gun around though, it’s tacky.
- UptownGunner
  
  504concerned…yes you may have been there before Whole Foods but a fact of life of living in a city is that there are businesses…if you don’t want the convenience of those businesses and the traffic that comes with them then move out to the country.
  
  Stop being such a “NIMBY I don’t want NOLA to ever change” neighbor.
  - jahnola
    
    U Gunner
    
    Ah c’mon… I wouldn’t live anywhere NEAR that store…but if I lived there first? Yeah man Whole Foods created a ‘cluster schmuck’ in the middle of a neighborhood. Great location to bilk us for (y)our millions..
- HobbesArt
  
  WF wanted to build a parking lot in the block behind the store, but city council decided to put in condos instead. Thank your neighborhood association for really thinking things through.
Brian D

Yo, time to rap

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=2UFc1pr2yUU
Jim H.

Just park in the pinkberry parking lot. They have signs that say you will be booted but you won’t. I have a friend that works there and they DON”t boot or tow cars. its right across the street. it doesn’t get any easier people!
- Matt
  
  Jim you are 100 percent right. i park here every week during my family grocery run. And I even stop here a time or two in the evening on my way home. Pinkberry/Chico’s has the perfect location for parking at whole foods.I have never been towed or booted.
PinkFreud

Yes, the parking at WF is a nightmare, but does anyone remember that the original plan, which was shot down, was to utilize the EXISTING parking lot behind the bus barn for parking?
- ripley
  
  That is what I kept looking for in all these comments, I am not sure how it ended up being the way it is, but not allowing the parking lot in the back is one of the stupidest things they could have done. And know with the Walgreens going in at the American legion hall. That parking lot is a bit of crap as well its awful narrow and all the suv drivers it will be a nightmare.
Darrell

I don’t see the problem here. This is a prime example of how to avert gun violence: ask first. “Do you want to get shot?” “No, thank you.” “Oh. Well, carry on, then.” Around here, people just assume that it’s okay to start shooting without asking. In this case, we can see a good example of an armed society actually being a polite society.
Mary

Ok – the gun issue is no laughing matter. I have two small children and if someone did that to me, I would be in tears.

However, I have to admit, I find some people that shop in WF to be extremely rude and inconsiderate. Actually, I don’t even know if that’s the right description. It’s more like it’s their first day on earth and their first time in a grocery store. They stop, mid-aisle, with their little carts and do not pull them over to the side. When they see something interesting, they leave their carts in the middle of the aisle and walk away, as if no one else is there shopping. It drives me batty. Like I said, I have 2 small children and on top of trying to keep them in order in the store and buy my groceries, I also have to stop top move other people’s carts out of my way.

While I’ve never thought of drawing a gun and threatening them, I have daydreamed of shooting them with a water gun for being so inconsiderate.
- Nate
  
  Life is hard.
Alan

I must say after reading all the comments, even with those who vehemently disagree with each other, everyone is courteous enough to agree to disagree and not call each other awful names. I like this website and the people who visit. It makes you realize that there are people who can blog with common courtesy. Thanks guys.

My two cents…..everyone needs to have more patience (myself included). When I get mad like the gun toting idiot, I have to take a step back and remember that some people are just morons. Have a great day.
- UptownGunner
  
  I like you! I’m the same in terms of my temper, but unfortunately when someone pulls a gun on you there’s no choice but to take them seriously and shoot back (if you are armed and if the situation makes sense..it’s not always worth it, case by case).
http://www.shockandahh.com Michael

Def NOT one of the 5 most common types of people you run into at Whole Foods: http://www.shockandahh.com/2012/01/5-types-of-people-you-meet-at-health.html
Chris

I just park in the pinkberry parking lot. its directly in front of whole foods. And they have a cop right at the entrance for safety.
Lisa

Hey, at least this is a first world problem, unlike most of New Orleans’ other problems…
http://www.pattyfriedmann.com afreelunch

Never mind the parking lot: I time my shopping at Whole Foods to avoid certain members of social strata who annoy me. Entitlement in the aisles translates to thoughtlessness in the garage. So I never have a problem with parking, because when I arrive I have my choice of many spaces. Class consciousness is part of living in Uptown, and if I can create a lovely version of Whole Foods for myself, so can everyone else.
binx

This never would have happened at the old whole foods. Everybody there was always so chill. Dude.
upt4real

If NOPD expended the energy to find the Alabama Guy, then certainly they should be able to locate this maniac thug.
tellmefree

Please tell me, Free Lunch, when I can avoid the Mercedes Soccer Mom $300 perfume crowd. PLEASE tell me. THEY are EXACTLY WHY I avoid that Whole Foods. I’m looking for the hairy granola Left Of Communist crowd, but ever since WF bought out my favorite “health food store” I don’t know where My People went. WF is the biggest joke there ever was.
NewtsaSinner

If all the entitled soccer moms in their suvs would stop squeezing into the compact spaces, then maybe tempers wouldn’t be so short.
Darrell

See, I shop at the Wal*Mart on Tchoup, and I’ve never seen a gun pulled. Whole Foods sounds kind of scary. I’ll stick to the safer neighborhood in St. Thomas.
Rachel

I am annoyed by the number of people whose response is, ” just park a block away.”

1. A nutcase who pulls a gun over a parking space needs more help than this. Ie, advice about where to park instead is not helpful.

And

2. Those spaces a block away? Those are in front of my house. I try not to be a whiny anti WF neighbor, because of course I knew it was here when I moved in, and it is convenient to have ther. But yesterday afternoon I did have to park 2.5 blocks away from my own home. It is not big deL to walk 2.5 blocks, but please let’s not encourage even MORE of them to hog all the neighborhood spaces…
Glenn

Just to state the obvious: How could the man with the gun know that the victim parked badly on purpose? He may have parked on the line because someone else did in the neighboring spot before he got there.
- Glenn
  
  PS: I rarely shop at whole foods now. I have been hit twice in that parking lot. One by an H2 (absurd vehicle) and once by a Jaguar. Both times the driver was too busy talking on a cell phone to concentrate on driving.