A Black manager at a Dunkin in Florida who fatally punched an elderly, white customer who called him the N-word will not spend any time behind bars, and instead will serve two years of house arrest as part of his guilty plea.
Frustrated with the service at one of the donut stores Tampa locations, Vonelle Cook, 77, marched into the store and berated the manager, calling him the N-word, police said.
The manager, 27-year-old Corey Pujols, who is Black, asked Cook not to say it again. When Cook decided to call him the N-word a second time, Pujols hit him in the jaw. The older man became unconscious, falling backwards and hitting his head on the floor. He was dead three days later, according to Fox13. Pujols had originally been charged with aggravated manslaughter following the May 5, 2021 incident.
Prosecutors accepted a plea deal from the donut shop manager, who agreed to change his plea to guilty for a lesser charge of felony battery in exchange for a more lenient sentence.
On Monday a judge decided Pujols would serve two years of house arrest, complete 200 hours of community service and attend an anger management course.