Man arrested for assault claims coworker taunted him with pranks
Long Prairie, MN
Mike Litz, a senior accountant at Ferel Tax Services, has been arrested for the assault of coworker Dale Tart, a man Litz claims pushed him over the edge with a never-ending barrage of pranks at work. The latest prank, according to Litz, is what caused him to strike Tart in the face out of pure frustration.
Litz defended his actions to police yesterday, "Every so often that Dale guy pretends to punch me in the groin, only to extend his hand out for a handshake. What's worse, he only does it when I'm carrying hot coffee or speaking to somebody important while walking."
Litz hates to be the bad guy, "Look, Tart may think it's funny, but try throwing a hot cup of coffee on your own chest every other day and see if you think it's funny."
According to Litz, the straw that broke the camel's back was when he was hauling an entire years-worth of work in his arms to a meeting with the firm's CEO when Dale Tart stuck his foot out of his cube and brought Litz down hard, knocking the wind out of him. "So, I got up and punched him in the face as hard as I could" said Litz.
"I'm not a violent man," said Litz, "but that punch was for Becky in accounting, Steve in purchasing and Jose in maintenance."
The man in purchasing he referred to is Steve Binkling who lost his hearing a year ago after Tart slid a brick of M-80's under a bathroom toilet stall where Steve was sitting and then exited the bathroom just before the bomb-like bangs rang out.
"That was good stuff," said Tart when asked about the fireworks incident. "Binks must have jumped ten feet [laughs]. I had ringing in my ears and I wasn't even in the bathroom."
Tart told The Peel he plays these tricks on other employees to lighten up the mood around the office, and offered to share a few of his favorite tricks. "Well, let's see. I apply tape to people's phone receivers so they hear nothing and think their phone is busted, dump salt in people's coffee and pretend to punch people in the stomach when I walk by."
Tart thinks Mike and the others need to relax and says it's all in good fun.
Tart was light-hearted and calm at the time of the interview and plans to sue Litz "Back to the Stone Age."
K. Fritz - the Peel