Advertisement

Tim Hortons coin-tosser could get jail time for assault

A New Brunswick man who threw coins at a Tim Hortons employee has been found guilty of assault.

Whether it's ubiquity or just good marketing strategy, Tim Hortons has become some kind of cultural touchstone across Canada.

So when something unusual or untoward happens at a Timmies, it often makes the news.

I doubt you'd be reading about a customer's tantrum if took place at, say, Mickey D's, but an incident at a New Brunswick Tim's has gotten national play and Twitter buzz. It helps that there's video.

CBC News reports the Crown is seeking jail time for Roy Gilmore, who found himself 11 cents short of the price of his medium double double at a Saint John-area Tim Hortons.

When employee Katelyn Blair wouldn't give him his coffee, the 49-year-old Gilmore exploded, Blair testified Wednesday in provincial court.

"For all the times I come in and have given you tips, you couldn't even give me a [expletive] coffee," Gilmore apparently said.

[ Related: Tim Hortons responds to letter writer’s complaint about lids with novel suggestion ]

Gilmore turned to leave but then threw the coins in his hand at Blair, hitting her in the face and shoulder. Another server was also struck, CBC News said.

Blair didn't report the incident to police until the following day, saying she did so that another employee wouldn't have to go through the same experience, especially someone younger whose life could be "ruined," CBC News said.

It certainly traumatized 21-year-old Blair, who was a supervisor at the restaurant.

"I was scared to go back to work," she told CBC News outside court. "I was scared he would come back in and do something even worse. But eventually, I got over that. I had to go back to work. It wasn't optional."

Gilmore was arrested and charged with assault after police made public the video surveillance footage from the Tim's outlet. His lawyer said Gilmore meant to throw the coins past Blair but his aim was bad.

He was on probation at the time of the incident last October and was also found guilty of violating the conditions of his probation.

Things apparently can get ugly when we're denied our Timmies. Back in 2010, three men were charged with assault at a Tim's drive-through after attacking the driver of the car in front for taking too long to place his order, according to the Toronto Star.

QMI Agency reported in 2010 that a man sued Tim Hortons for $121,000 after he was injured when the toilet seat in the washroom of an Edmonton outlet broke as he sat down. No report on how the case was resolved.

Sometimes it's Tim's to the rescue. Two employees of a suburban Montreal outlet saved the life of a man who'd gone into cardiac arrest while parked in restaurant's lot, according to a report by QMI Agency.

Carl Dessureault squeezed into the car, lowered the seat and began chest compressions.

"I didn't have any room," he said. "There were cars on either side of me and I didn't want him to lie on the ice. So I got on top of him and started CPR."

But transgressions at Tim's will be punished.

[ Related: Toronto man wins Tim Hortons' Duelling Donuts contest ]

Paramedic Jimmy Craig of St. Andrews, N.B., found himself banned from his local Tim's for his chronic complaints about the quality of the decaf coffee it was serving, CBC News reported in 2010.

"It was like brown, burnt water," said Craig, who complained three times. "I almost, you know, got sick in the sink."

After Craig complained to the store manager at Tim Hortons' corporate HQ, outlet owner Edwin Dow served Craig with a letter banning him from the place under the province's Trespass Act.

Dow said his staff went out of their way to satisfy Craig, brewing fresh pots of decaf on request, CBC News said. The complaints were upsetting his staff and Dow said he was simply fed up.

(Do people in New Brunswick seem a little thin-skinned?)

[ Related: Tim Hortons good Samaritan triggers copycat generosity across the country ]

And apparently you're also not welcome at Tim's if you're campaigning to decriminalize pot.

The Huffington Post reported Thursday that Sensible BC, which is gathering signatures to force a referendum on whether B.C. police should be instructed by the provincial government to stop enforcing marijuana-possession laws, has been told his group can't hold meetings in Tim's outlets.

Referendum organizer Dana Larsen said access to his campaign's web site was also blocked on Tim's free WiFi hotspots, HuffPost said.

Tim Hortons spokeswoman Alexandra Cygal said the company discourages organized events by any groups, regardless of cause, though Larsen said he found examples of other groups that used Tim's as a venue.

Cygal did say Sensible BC's web site should not have been blocked and that access was granted again after a request was made last week. However, HuffPost said that as late as Wednesday night, the site remained blocked under a classification of illegal drugs.