Wichita man sentenced for using rock to attack Walgreens shopper who gave him change
A 67-year-old Wichita man who used a rock to repeatedly beat an unsuspecting Walgreens shopper who gave him change after she left the store was sentenced Thursday to 10 years, two months in prison, a Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesman said.
Veryl Dean Crawford pleaded guilty on April 4 to an amended count of aggravated battery in connection with the July 7, 2021, attack at 3333 E. Central. In addition to the prison time, Sedgwick County District Judge Kevin Mark Smith ordered Crawford to pay $862 in restitution to the victim and serve two years of post-release supervision, DA spokesman Dan Dillon said.
Crawford’s lawyer asked the judge to impose probation or no more than a year in prison instead. Crawford is unlikely to reoffend due to “extremely poor physical health,” he “accepts responsibility for harm caused,” and neither Crawford nor the community would benefit from a lengthy incarceration, a written motion filed in court before the sentencing hearing says.
Witnesses saw Crawford attack the 55-year-old woman by her car after she bought items at the Walgreens and left the store around 11:20 a.m. The woman told police she gave Crawford about a dollar’s worth of change when he approached her and asked, only to be shoved into her car when she opened the door, according to a probable cause affidavit released in the case.
She told police Crawford told her to “scoot over and you will not be hurt. I just want a ride.”
But when she replied that the car was too small for her to move to another seat, Crawford “began striking her in the face and head” with a rock, the affidavit says.
In all, Crawford smashed the rock to her head nine or 10 times, causing her to bleed, she told police. The woman told police she was afraid Crawford would kill her if she didn’t let him into her vehicle, the affidavit says. The attack left her with several lacerations on her head and face that needed staples and stitches, the affidavit says.
Crawford eventually fled with her wallet and phone. Good Samaritans who saw Crawford beating her followed him to an address, where police later found him lying in some bushes under a window and arrested him, according to the affidavit. The police also found a blood-covered rock and the woman’s stolen belongings under the window.
Crawford told police he had anger issues and didn’t like taking no for an answer and said that when he asked the woman for money “she got to talking crazy” so he stuck his finger in her face, the affidavit says. He admitted to hitting the woman but said he didn’t remember picking up the rock and told police he ran off because people were yelling at him, according to the affidavit.
