Bush-whacked: Deputy hurls Bush bean cans to subdue suspect

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – You might say the hammer-wielding suspect got Bush-whacked.

The Panama City News Herald reports a Bay County sheriff’s deputy threw two cans of beans and helped subdue a man threatening people with a hammer inside a grocery store. Maj. Jimmy Sanford says the cans of Bush’s extra brown sugar baked beans were an alternative to using deadly force.

Initial reports Thursday said the suspect had a gun. It turned out to be a hammer, but he allegedly attacked three law officers with it. A video obtained by the newspaper shows Sanford hurling the cans at the suspect, who was arrested.

Authorities say 25-year-old Justin Tyler Stanford is charged with assault with a deadly weapon on an officer and other offences. Court records didn’t indicate Saturday if Stanford had a lawyer.