An employee at a hamburger shop was sentenced after pleading guilty to stabbing a homeless man who had tossed a drink in his face.
35-year-old Darrell Drake was working at the Blake’s Lotaburger in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he got into an altercation with a homeless man in May, according to a criminal complaint.
Witnesses told police that the homeless man was rummaging through the garbage of the fast food restaurant when Drake, who is a maintenance worker, tried to tell him to leave.
“The gentleman, I told him to leave, and he didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to leave, and we kinda got into it,” said Drake in court on Tuesday. “And at that point I lost control.”
Witnesses told police that Drake hit the man with a push broom after he threw a drink in his face. Then he stabbed the homeless man in the legs with a knife and beat him.
Drake initially told police that he was acting in self-defense.
“I wasn’t trying to kill nobody. I wasn’t trying to do anything but defend myself,” he said at the time, according to police.
He was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He later pleaded guilty.
On Tuesday, Drake was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and 30 hours of community service with the homeless. He will also continue therapy.
“I learned a lot about the root cause of my anger, and my military background, how that can help intensify my triggers,” said Drake in court.
Drake, who is a former U.S. Marine, had also been accused of a violent reaction in a road rage incident, but that case was dropped when the alleged victims failed to show up in court.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
Blake’s Lotaburger employee charged with stabbing a homeless manwww.youtube.com
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