Missouri man arrested for holding gun to grocery store worker’s throat while demanding steaks

Larry Gene Gay, 70, brandished a loaded semi-automatic pistol inside a Price Cutter store in Republic

Larry Gene Gay, 70, is pictured in his mugshot (Greene County Jail)

A Missouri man has been arrested for holding a grocery store worker at gunpoint while demanding he be served steaks.

Larry Gene Gay, 70, pulled out a loaded semi-automatic pistol inside a Price Cutter store in Republic on 18 April during a dispute over a closed meat counter.

Mr Gay told police he was trying to buy steaks when the “good man” helping him said he would be unable to weigh the meat because the counter was closed, according to OzarksFirst.com.

He said he brandished his weapon “just to say I’m not stealing”.

“I need you here to help me to get a couple of these steaks. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said he told the employee.

The employee said the dispute began when staff spotted Mr Gay packing his own meat at the closed counter.

He said Mr Gay became upset when told that he could not do that.

“Once he held the gun to my throat — pushed it into my throat — I decided to comply,” the employee told investigators.

Police officers responded to the scene after receiving reports of an armed robbery.

Mr Gay was ordered to get out of his truck in the parking lot and placed under arrest. The loaded pistol - with a bullet in the chamber - was removed from his hip holster.

He was subsequently charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon and a felony count of armed criminal action.

He was booked into the Greene County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Asked by an investigating officer why police had received reports of Mr Gay threatening people with his gun, he said: “I don’t know. I have no idea.”