The local Rainbow Food Store captured the baked beans incident on video. (Photo: Bay County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube)
A Florida Sherriff’s deputy chief ended a brief standoff between officers and a hammer-wielding man with a couple of well-placed cans of baked beans. Three officers were involved in the standoff versus the man at a local grocery store in Youngstown, Fla.
Several people called the police after the attack started. Some witnesses claimed that the attacker was armed with a gun, that he fired a shot and that one person was wounded.
After arriving on-site officers Sheriff Tommy Ford, Deputy Chief Joel Heape and Maj. Jimmy Stanford saw a different scene. The attacker, Justin Tyler Stanford, 25 and unrelated, was holding his hammer like a gun. Although no one was hurt, that could have changed if not for Stanford.
Stepping in at just the right time, Stanford circled around the suspect and started pelting him with canned beans.
“My thoughts were I could take these and hit him with them and they’re not going to kill him, a less lethal alternative,” said Stanford. “And it should get his attention diverted away from the sheriff and the chief and they could apprehend him.”
“He still has the hammer and is just going back, side side, and they’re kind of walking him backward down the aisle,” Stanford explained. “We were all under the impression he might still have a gun and that shots were fired and someone may be shot. I ran parallel on the next aisle, my thinking is he’ll back into me and maybe I can grab him,” Stanford continued. “For whatever reason he turned when he got real close and sees me and my element of surprise is now gone, so there we are, the three of us.”
These are likely the beans used to stop the attack. (Photo: Bush’s)
“I saw Jimmy poke his head out, the next thing I know he steps out with a can of Bush’s extra brown sugar baked beans and hits the suspect in the upper body and distracts him,” said Ford. “And then he does it again and the suspect…Joel was able to deflect his swing and lock his arm up. It was a fight, we were wrestling.”
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For the record, Stanford used 16-ounce cans of beans to subdue the assailant. Justin Stanford, the suspect, is being charged with assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest with force, driving under the influence and fleeing the scene of a crime.
“Major Stanford ran down a nearby aisle to approach from behind the subject, but the subject saw him. Major Stanford then demonstrated amazingly accurate pitching skills and ‘distracted’ the subject with the use of two cans of Bush’s Baked Beans. Effectively ‘distracted,’ the subject was quickly and safely taken into custody,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“It’s a can-do attitude,” said Stanford.
While the Beans worked in this incident. It’s not our preferred choice for self-defense. We suggest you purchase a tried-and-true handgun.
YOU are the weapon, everything else is just accessories.
35 years ago my wife did the same thing when she was accosted at night by a man demanding her purse, while in a Publix parking lot in Jacksonville, FLA. She whopped her attacker in the head with a grocery bag that she had in her hand, that contained 2 large cans of yams she had just bought. He took off running so fast, he jumped out of his shoes. Two bag boys, both football players from Wolfson High, saw the incident, and chased him down. When the law arrived, it was my next door neighbor who was a JAX PD Sargent. Both of the cans were dented from the hit, and Publix gave her two new ones. My brother in law was impressed and gave her another two cans in a box, labeling the box, ‘Attack Yam’s, Open in case of emergency’.
Do you know how many beans are in a can?!!! That must be at least a near 100 round can! This can’t be in California because those would be illegal there.
……..He sure got CANED!!,….
Beans can be lethal, in the can or the digestive tract…
Clean up In aisle 7!
Looks like he was “Bush-whacked” to me……..using a “can-non”……..
There is Hope. I have watched over the years as LE has been trained in The New Way, which is basically if an LE fells a Threat he can shot the person about 10 times, and then check to see if he or she was correct. The result has been a lot of shot up or dead people that really were not much of a threat. Finally LE is gonna change the training to what it was like back when LE decided they would apply The Double Tap, or about 50 years ago. I know there are more Nuts out there today, and I also know that a bunch of young LEs are being trained to disrespect a life. Time to think a out of the box, or in this case A Can of Beans. Now it appears this LE has White Hair, which could mean he was trained The Old Way.
Now this should be absolute proof you should go through a background check and a 7 day waiting period to purchase canned beans.
Roll that beautiful bean footage!
News flash libiturds having all cand beans removed from shelves. Background checks for for beans now limited to soft small plastic bags. Slingshots also to be removed from shelves for they can shoot a bean. Stay tuned for more stupidity
Very good thinking to not have to shoot that man.
Excellent Police work.
This is how stupid criminals should be dealt with the cops did the right thing; and look like the good guys they are instead of filling a guy full of lead because he has a hammer. Good job guys keep beaning em when you can. Shoot em when you have too.
Would a #10 can of beans be considered a magnum under current Florida law.
I guess that the sheriff deputy really beaned him.
I prefer Bush’s Southwestern Style Pinto Beans.
Could also be a salt weapon.
He beaned him alright!
A “gas operated” projectile
Looks like M-16 assault beans to me!