Pascual Santana (Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Walmart where Santana allegedly brandished a gun at an employee (Google Maps).
A 79-year-old Florida resident is facing charges after allegedly threatening a Walmart employee with a firearm while using his mobility scooter. The incident stemmed from his frustration over what he perceived as poor customer service.
Pascual Santana was apprehended last week and is now charged with aggravated assault involving a firearm, court documents reveal.
The altercation reportedly occurred on November 16, 2025, at the Hialeah Walmart located in Miami-Dade County along NW 177th Street, according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.
At approximately 11 a.m., Santana was navigating the jewelry section of the store on his scooter when he approached an employee behind the counter, requesting to view multiple pieces of jewelry. The employee informed Santana of the store’s policy, which limits customers to examining one item at a time, as noted by the police.
Feeling dissatisfied with the service, Santana allegedly began to verbally berate the employee, using offensive language as stated in the affidavit.
Despite his objections, the employee reiterated the store’s policy, clarifying that only one jewelry piece could be shown to him at any given moment.
Santana allegedly responded by telling the victim she “had a bad attitude and that she needed to fix it.” When the victim asked Santana what he wanted to see, he again allegedly insisted on “viewing multiple pieces at the same time.”
“The victim told the defendant a second time that she could not do that per the store policy,” the affidavit states. “After the victim explained to the defendant for a second time that she was unable to show him multiple pieces of jewelry at the same time, the defendant opened his shirt in which he had a firearm in his waistband, showed it to the victim, and stated to the victim, ‘Are you scared now?’”
At that point, the victim said she feared for her safety and “backed up” before calling store security to report the incident. The information was transmitted to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and deputies went to Santana’s home on Friday to speak with him about the incident.
In a post-Miranda interview, Santana denied that he was the individual who appeared in the Walmart security footage despite the fact that “video surveillance shows him during the incident in the area the victim advised the incident occurred.”
Santana is currently being held in the Metro West Detention Center on a $5,000 bond, jail records show. It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to appear in court again.
