BROWNWOOD BULLETIN (Texas) 01 October 03 Wal-Mart investigates snake bite incident (Steve Nash)
Wal-Mart corporate officials from Bentonville, Ark. are investigating a man's claim that he was bitten in the hand by a rattlesnake Monday afternoon in the Brownwood store.
"We do take all customer comments and concerns very seriously. We're investigating this particular incident," company spokeswoman Sharon Weber said by phone from Bentonville.
"We're looking into it ... (to) find out what happened. There's a number of things we can do to get the big picture."
Weber said company officials would interview ambulance personnel and other witnesses and review store security tapes. She did not know if any tapes from Monday revealed any details on the incident.
Weber declined to comment on whether Wal-Mart officials believe the man was actually bitten.
Brownwood police initially investigated the incident but are no longer involved because it was determined to be a civil matter, Brownwood Police Chief Virgil Cowin said.
Assistant store manager Cynthia Jones said Monday afternoon that police were en route to Brownwood Regional Medical Center to interview the man, identified later by authorities as Douglas Hatchett. Jones quoted police as saying that the snake did not appear to have been freshly killed.
Hatchett, of Bangs, said there's no question the snake bit him.
"I don't know how the snake got there. I know for a fact it bit me," he said.
Hatchett said he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, treated for the snake bite and released Monday night.
Firefighters arrived at the store around 1 p.m. to find a small dead rattlesnake in a box, and Hatchett was being treated by GoldStar ambulance personnel, Fire Capt. Larry Butler said.
Hatchett told officials he was in the shoe department of Wal-Mart. He had reached down for a pair of shoes on the shelving where shoeboxes are displayed when the Western Diamond rattler, estimated at 14 to 16 inches long, bit him, Butler said.
"I didn't know what it was," Hatchett said. "I jerked back. When I jerked back, it was coming with me."
He said he stomped twice on the snake, killing it, then found an employee in the sporting goods department and asked for a snake bite kit. He said someone from management arrived with a snake bite kit, and insisted on calling an ambulance. Hatchett said he did not want an ambulance, and did not want to go to the hospital.
Hatchett, 31, a self-employed carpenter and painter, said he had gone to Wal-Mart to shop for birthday presents for his wife and daughter. He said he went to the shoe department to shop for shoes for himself.
Hatchett said he he has no intention of trying to get money out of Wal-Mart other than wanting the company to pay his medical bills. He said a Wal-Mart official told him "it's probable that (the company) will" pay his medical bills after completing an investigation.
Wal-Mart investigates snake bite incident
