California man asks barista for free hot water, then throws it in her face

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: Starbucks, hot water, health news

(NaturalNews) Trouble in paradise has landed a Starbucks coffee barista in the hospital with serious second-degree burns to her neck and chest. According to a recent report by KGTV 10 News in San Diego, the woman was scalded by a cup of hot water that a man to whom she had given it, for free of course, threw it back in her face after she approached him for improper store conduct.

Dennis Christopher Lee, the 58-year-old perpetrator, apparently walked into a Starbucks shop in downtown San Diego recently, and asked for a cup of hot water from his victim. After receiving it, he proceeded to load it up with various condiments at the condiment bar. When the woman approached him to explain that the condiments were for paying customers only, he immediately flung the cup of hot water directly at her face.

"All of a sudden, I heard [another employee] and the lady in the back scream, and he threw the hot cup at her, directly towards her chest and face," said Shegun Iluyomade, one of the customers present during the incident, to KGTV. "I ran after him and I ordered him to stop. He was just saying, 'I'm sorry.' I'm like, 'I don't want to hear it. Do not move.'"

Shortly after the incident, police arrived on the scene and arrested Lee on suspicion of battery. He is currently being held at a county jail on $8,000 bail, pending his arraignment. The injured victim is currently being treated at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center.

The man's violent behavior is indicative of one of three things: He is either a cheap, angry person with a bad temper; a deranged lunatic with very serious mental problems; or the product of mind-altering pharmaceutical drugs or other narcotics. Officials have not yet indicated which of the three most accurately fits the profile, but the latter is a highly-likely scenario in light of the numerous cases of drug-induced rage that have taken place in recent years (https://www.naturalnews.com/mind-altering_dru...).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.10news.com/news/28261034/detail.h...