Sure, you may like coupon inserts, but a lot of people get upset about unwanted packets of sales circulars and coupons that get tossed onto their driveways. Perhaps no one, though, has gotten quite as upset as two Detroit men, who have been arrested on charges of trying to kill a man who dared to deliver coupons to them.
And you thought some of your cashiers weren’t “coupon friendly”!
Police in Detroit have announced the arrest of 21-year-old Jaffar Tawfik (pictured above, on the left), who had been on the run ever since the arrest of his father, 54-year-old Moushtak Abdulkarim (pictured on the right), last November.
Both men are accused of taking out their frustrations on deliveryman Karlton Perry, after he tossed a plastic bag full of ads and coupons onto their porch. Perry said an angry Abdulkarim picked up the bundle and threw it back at him. So Perry took a photo of the house to ensure he didn’t deliver there again.
And that’s when things got ugly.
Surveillance video shows Abdulkarim picking up more items from his porch and throwing them at Perry. Then a man identified as Tawfik comes out of the house and the three men scuffle. Perry fled the scene, and police say the two men hopped into a van and drove after him. Perry told police that Abdulkarim tried to stab him, and Tawfik fired several shots at him, hitting him once in the back.
Perry recovered – but was worried that his alleged assailant was still on the loose.
“If you would shoot a newspaper boy or a delivery guy, or somebody trying to give you coupons, who else would you shoot?” Deputy Aaron Garcia of the U.S. Marshals Service said to Detroit’s WXYZ-TV. “We got honest citizens, Detroiters, making an honest living out here, doing a job. And you got this guy, reckless, no regard for anything.”
While this incident is certainly the most violent of its kind, it’s not the first dispute involving home-delivered coupons and ads in the Detroit area. Fed up with the unwanted deliveries, a suburban Detroit community began issuing littering citations to the Detroit Free Press in 2016. And the newspaper responded by suing Orion Township for violating its right to free speech.
The two sides resolved their dispute last year, with the paper promising to do a better job honoring residents’ opt-out requests.
But they couldn’t have anticipated what happened to Perry. Abdulkarim was arrested shortly after the November incident, and was charged with attempted murder and several lesser offenses. He refused to enter a plea during his first court appearance, so the court entered a plea of “not guilty” on his behalf. He’s due to stand trial next month.
Tawfik was found hiding in the attic of a nearby home, and was arrested last Thursday. He’s charged with attempted murder and a number of felony weapons violations.
It’s not known whether the two men had kindly requested that they no longer receive the bundles of ads and coupons, or if they simply decided to take matters into their own hands. Either way, you can bet no one will dare make any unwanted deliveries to their address again. But with each facing a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, their small victory over unwanted coupons may have come at a very steep price.
