Man slaps a stranger’s screaming baby in Wal-Mart

Anyone who’s had to shop at Wal-Mart knows that a cacophony of screeching babies is part of the tapestry of America’s most gigantic retailer.

A South Carolina man decided he wasn’t going to stand by quietly and allow the child to persist in ruining his otherwise pleasant Wal-Mart shopping experience. After threatening the child’s mother, he slapped the 2-year-old girl “four or five times” across the face.

Sonya Mathews, the mother of the 2-year-old child, told police that both were walking in the aisles of the Rockbridge Road store when Roger Stephens, 61, approached and said “if you don’t shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you,” according to a police report.

A few moments later, in another aisle, Stephens grabbed the 2-year-old and slapped her across the face four or five times, according to the report.

Stephens then told Mathews, “See, I told you I would shut her up,” according to the report.

According to reports, Mathews was detained by a bystander until police arrived. When questioned, the 61-year-old man explained that while he had indeed slapped a strange baby across the face, he apologized to her mother afterwards. He was still booked for felony cruelty to children.