Belgium car wash customer faces 3 months in jail
An argument that got out of hand last year at a Belgian car wash could end up in 3 months jail time for a 60-year-old customer, who molested one of the employees.
The 60-year-old man showed up at the car wash and paid 15 euros. But just when it was his turn, the system blocked, preventing his car from being washed right away.
The car wash had technical problems and the customer demanded his money back. When he got a voucher instead, things got ugly pretty fast. A 64-year-old car wash employee fell and broke his shoulder.
According to Belgian media, the customer from Kortrijk says he was beaten by the car wash employee. But from the camera footage of the incident, this could not be confirmed.
“We are not allowed to give money back just like that by our management, so I gave him a credit note of 20 euros and told him he could come back later,” the 64-year-old employee of the carwash said in court. But the man did not agree to that and an argument ensued, according to the car wash employee’s lawyer.
Employee against the ground
At one point, the 60-year-old customer got out of his car and started filming and photographing everything. The employee repeatedly asked him to stop doing so. At one point, the employee knocked the phone out of his hands. The argument escalated and the employee was pushed to the ground. As a result, he broke his shoulder.
‘Self-defense’
The man from Kortrijk maintains that things went differently, and that the employee himself went to the ground: “It was self-defense. It left me with a trauma, for me he is a murderer.” According to the prosecution, only the man from Kortrijk used physical force. He risks 3 months in prison with suspension and a 400 euros fine.
The verdict is on Nov. 21.
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