A 42-year-old Pennsylvania man is facing multiple charges after allegedly throwing a sleeping child in a Walmart parking lot following an argument inside the store.
Justin Martin Wagner was arrested at his Lancaster home and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of children, and disorderly conduct.
According to the Ephrata Police Department, officers were called to the East Main Street Walmart on the night of Aug. 11. Police reported that Wagner caused a scene inside the store over a payment issue, shouted obscenities, and was escorted out by staff.
“Witnesses reported a male who was causing a disturbance inside Walmart earlier, was observed taking a sleeping child that he was with from a shopping cart, lifting the child up in the air and then throwing the child onto the pavement in the parking lot,” police said in a press release. Police reports obtained by LNP Lancaster Online further noted that witnesses saw Wagner pick the child up and throw them into the interior of a vehicle.
Wagner strongly denied the assault charges in an interview with LNP, admitting only to disorderly conduct.
“I deny every one except for the disorderly conduct,” Wagner told the outlet, insisting the child was never thrown to the pavement or hurt. “You think I’m going to body slam a 6-year-old kid? There’s going to be marks, there’s going to be bruises… If I slam a 6-year-old kid, which I would never do, it’s going to hurt him.”
Wagner claimed the child screamed because of a prior knee injury when he moved them out of the cart. “I don’t know how people saw (the child) get slammed, because (the child) didn’t get slammed, I maybe picked (the child) up a little bit aggressively, but no, (the child) didn’t get hurt or nothing,” he said.
Wagner was released after posting $100,000 cash bail and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17.
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