Angry customer hit worker over the head with a 4-pound frozen fish, Michigan officials say
A suspect in Michigan is facing an assault charge after allegedly hitting a grocery market clerk over the head with a frozen fish on Sunday, authorities said this week.
"Warren Police hooked and netted a suspect in connection with an altercation at a local fish counter," the Macomb County prosecutor's office wrote in a news release issued on Wednesday.
The suspect, identified as MD Jobul Hussain by the attorney's office, was arraigned in district court on Monday and given a $5,000 bond. He was charged with one count of aggravated assault, a one-year misdemeanor in Michigan. Hussain's next court date has not been scheduled.
Authorities say Hussain used a frozen four-pound hilsa fish to allegedly assault the clerk who worked behind the fish counter at Desi Fruit Market in Warren, which is about 20 miles north of Detroit. Hilsa is a species of fish related to the herring that can grow to weigh more than 6 1/2 pounds. It is the national fish of Bangladesh.
The suspect allegedly became angry when he approached the fish counter at around 7:13 p.m. local time on Sunday evening — 13 minutes after the counter closed.
When the clerk explained that the counter had closed already due to the Ramadan holiday, the suspect allegedly "became angry and argued with the clerk." The suspect then "allegedly assaulted the clerk on the head with a four pound hilsa fish," prosecutors said. The clerk, who has not been identified publicly, was transported to a nearby hospital after the incident.
"I never thought I'd have to say this, but if you assault someone with a fish in our county you will be prosecuted," said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido in a statement included with his office's news release. "A frozen fish is dangerous if you use it to hit someone on the head."
