Drunk man assaults Kroger maintenance man

A Troy man was arrested on Tuesday, December 1, by Birmingham police for disorderly contact after assaulting a maintenance contractor in the Kroger parking lot at Maple and Woodward, and then trying to steal his truck while it was running and the keys were inside.

Around 10 p.m., officers were dispatched to the Kroger parking lot, 700 E. Maple Road, on a report of keys being stolen out of a commercial truck by a possibly drunk white man. Officers made contact with the man, a 45-year-old white male from Troy, in the Generations parking lot just north of Kroger on Woodward Avenue, where they noted slurred speech.

Witnesses reported that the suspect had physically assaulted and yelled obscenities at a maintenance contractor in the Kroger parking lot, and then proceeded to get inside of the maintenance worker's truck while it was running and the keys were inside. As the maintenance worker headed to the truck, the suspect removed and threw the keys, and then got out of the vehicle.

The suspect denied these actions and continued to use profane language with police officers at the scene. A preliminary breath test was administered with a blood alcohol level of over twice the legal level.

Birmingham police arrested the man for disorderly conduct.