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BROWNWOOD BULLETIN (Texas) 02 October 03 Wal-Mart: Story isn't 'adding up' (Steve Nash)

Douglas Hatchett said he never wanted the fame that's found him since telling Wal-Mart officials that a rattlesnake bit him Monday in the Brownwood store.

A Wal-Mart official, meanwhile, said things "aren't adding up" as the company investigates Hatchett's claim that the snake bit his hand as he shopped for shoes in the shoe department.

Hatchett, 31, of Bangs, said he's gotten media calls from across the nation. He said he is aware of the suggestions that he might have staged the entire incident to try to get money from the retail giant, and that Wal-Mart itself apparently believes that.

"What they're trying to say is I'm doing this to scam them," Hatchett said. "I never wanted it to go this far. I never wanted to go to the damn hospital.

"Here (Wal-Mart officials) the are trying to make me look like I'm suing them for a million bucks. Basically, I'm sick of it. ... As much as I don't want to be in the paper, I want to give you my side."

Hatchett said all he wants from Wal-Mart is for the company to pay his as-yet unknown medical bills from his treatment and brief stay at Brownwood Regional Medical Center.

Wal-Mart has said little about its ongoing investigation into the incident, which happened around 1 p.m. in the shoe department. Company spokeswoman Sharon Weber of Bentonville, Ark. said Wednesday that "there's a lot of things that just really aren't adding up."

"We're still looking into it," Weber said. " ...it wouldn't be appropriate to be specific."

Hatchett, a self-employed carpenter and painter, has said he went to the store Monday to shop for birthday presents for his wife and daughter. He said he went to the shoe department to look for tennis shoes for himself.

He said he reached for a shoe box on a rack that was about thigh-level when something struck at his hand. He jerked his hand back "and it was coming with me," he said.

Hatchett said he flung the snake to the floor and stomped on it twice, killing it. He asked a store employee to get a snakebite kit, and someone did, and store officials said they had to call an ambulance, Hatchett said. Firefighters arrived to find the 14-to-16-inch snake's carcass in a box and Hatchett being treated by GoldStar ambulance personnel.

He said he never wanted an ambulance and did not want to go to the hospital, but that GoldStar employees insisted he needed to go to be checked out. "It was an embarrassing situation. I was willing to go home," he said.

Hatchett said he was treated for snakebite at the hospital and released later that night. Tim Lancaster, the hospital's chief executive officer, said the hospital could not release any information about Hatchett's treatment, or whether doctors believed he had sustained a snakebite, because of patient privacy laws.

Hatchett said someone connected with the investigation on behalf of Wal-Mart suggested to him several possible scenarios as to what actually occurred. One suggested scenario, Hatchett said, was that he had caught the snake earlier and was keeping it, and that the snake had bitten him, he had killed it and taken it inside the store.

He said he called the Brownwood store Wednesday morning and asked to speak to the manager who was on duty when the incident occurred. He said he did not initially identify himself, and that the person who answered the phone "just started talking ... (he said) we think it wasn't an accident."

Assistant store manager Cynthia Jones said Monday that police officers had said the snake did not appear to be freshly killed. Police did not pursue an investigation after determining that it was a civil matter, Brownwood Police Chief Virgil Cowin said.
Wal-Mart: Story isn't 'adding up'

BROWNWOOD — Brown County Attorney Shane Britton has opened an investigation that could result in criminal charges against a Bangs man who claimed a snake bit him inside Brownwood’s Wal-Mart.

Douglas Hatchett, 31, claimed a small rattlesnake bit him on the hand Monday as he shopped in the store’s shoe department. Hatchett was taken to Brownwood Regional Medical Center and released about nine hours later.

Britton said he has been in contact with officials from Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., and officials at the retailer’s district office in Midland. Britton has also subpoenaed medical records from BRMC. He said he expects to have his findings compiled next week.

"If it turns out this incident was fabricated, I would assume that Wal-Mart and Brownwood Regional would be interested in filing charges," the prosecutor said.

Charges against Hatchett could range from filing a false report to theft, Britton said.

At his home this morning, Hatchett, a self-employed carpenter, insisted he is telling the truth about being bitten by a small rattlesnake. He still has what he says are bite marks above his right thumb.

He said once he reported the bite to the store manager, he asked only for a snakebite kit, but was told by the manager that company policy required he be treated at a hospital.

"There’s no reason for me to lie," he said. "Wal-Mart insisted I be taken to the hospital. All I am asking is that they pay for what their company policy is."

Hatchett said once he had been treated with what doctors told him was the "maximum amount" of anti-venom medication, he wanted to leave, but doctors insisted he stay another six hours.

"If I hadn’t been bitten, why would the doctors want to keep me there?" he asked.

Dr. John Dunn, who heads the emergency room at BRMC, was not on duty the day of the incident, but said anti-venom medication is used only if doctors believe a bite has occurred. He said the standard dose is five vials of the drug, costing thousands of dollars.

"The anti-venom could cause an allergic reaction in a person who has not been bitten," he said.

He said when a person has been bitten, the best first aid is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible.

Hatchett accused the Wal-Mart chain of launching a smear campaign against him after the incident. Rumors have surfaced that the incident was a hoax and that Hatchett may have taken a dead snake into the store and planted it there.

"Rumors and accusations started coming up from Wal-Mart at the very beginning," Hatchett said. "It was intentional to downplay their role in this situation."

Wal-Mart officials said they continue to investigate Hatchett’s claims, but that certain things "aren’t adding up."

"We’ve looked into it and investigated and are trying to determine what happened here," said Tom Williams, a Wal-Mart spokesman. "The more we look into it, the more we are not pleased with what has gone on."

Williams would not speculate whether the store will pursue charges against Hatchett.

The incident has received attention from media outlets across the nation.

Brownwood Regional Medical Center officials are expected to issue a statement later today.