A 39-year-old woman, Lowayna Durant, was arrested Friday after an altercation inside The Market at Tutu Park Mall left a 72-year-old man, Patton Mulford, with an injury to his left ear requiring stitches, according to the Virgin Islands Police Department.
The incident occurred around 2:40 p.m. inside the grocery store. When officers arrived, Durant was still on scene and reported that the confrontation began as she was walking through an aisle checking her shopping list on her phone. She told police that Mulford approached and stood directly in front of her, telling her to move.
Durant said she believed she had given enough space and admitted to pushing his shopping cart aside, telling officers that the exchange became a face-to-face confrontation in which she felt threatened due to Mulford’s larger stature. She told police she acted in defense of herself, according to a Tuesday press release.
Mulford, who was transported by ambulance to Schneider Regional Medical Center, told officers that he believed Durant intentionally obstructed his path and that both of them refused to move. He said Durant forcefully pushed his shopping cart twice while he was still holding it, and then allegedly lunged and struck him with her fist and forearm. According to the report, Mulford told police that he fell backward into the store shelf, injuring his left ear. He received seven stitches, and officers documented what they described as a laceration resulting in partial disfigurement.
Officers later reviewed store surveillance footage and reported that the video showed Durant as the aggressor in the exchange. The investigation further noted the significant age difference between the two individuals — Mulford is 72, Durant 39 — and concluded that Durant’s actions caused the injury, the release said.
Durant was taken into custody and charged with assault in the third degree, mayhem, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault, disturbance of the peace, and simple assault, police said. Bail was set at $25,000, and according to the report, Durant was unable to post bond. She was subsequently remanded to the Bureau of Corrections, pending her Advice of Rights hearing scheduled on Monday.
