#Florida man charged after brandishing gun during Walmart mask dispute

A gun-toting Florida man threatened to kill a fellow Walmart shopper who asked him to put on a mask, sheriff officials said.

Vincent Bruce Scavetta, who was caught on surveillance video brandishing a handgun from his waistband during an argument with another shopper at a Royal Palm Beach Walmart on July 12, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a firearm, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

“Welcome to PBC Jail, son,” deputies tweeted. “Let this be a lesson. It could have ended badly.”

Scavetta, 28, of Lake Worth Beach, was pushing his father in a wheelchair when Christopher Estrada, who was shopping with his young daughter, asked him to don a mask due to COVID-19, according to an arrest report obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Estrada, 46, said Scavetta then launched into an expletive-laced tirade before aiming the handgun at his head and threatening to shoot, sheriff officials said.

“I’ll kill you,” Scavetta told Estrada, according to the report.

Scavetta and his father then left the Walmart after the confrontation subsided. Sheriff officials later released screenshots of the surveillance video to identify him, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

Scavetta later contacted deputies to give his version of events and turned in his handgun as evidence and provided investigators with a valid concealed-carry permit, according to the arrest report.

Scavetta, who said he took off his mask inside the store because it got wet outside during a storm, accused Estrada of hitting him with an umbrella, the report states.

But Scavetta later admitted he wasn’t sure if he was hit due to the stress associated with the incident. Estrada, meanwhile, told deputies he did raise his umbrella toward Scavetta during the gun threat, but couldn’t recall if his umbrella actually hit the man, deputies said.

Scavetta, who was arrested Wednesday, was released from the Palm Beach County Jail after posting $15,000 bond, online records show.