A store cashier struck a deaf customer in the head with a crowbar after he mistook the man's silence for rudeness and disrespect
"I can't believe someone would hit him for not speaking," said Goodnight's mother, Kay Goodnight. "When you're deaf, you don't make a point of starting conversations with people."
Cody Goodnight said he had walked several blocks from their house to the Family Dollar to buy a soft drink for his 5-year-old son. Inside the store, he put the soda on the counter to pay.
The cashier tried to speak to him but got angry when Goodnight didn't respond, Goodnight told police. The cashier threw Goodnight's change at him, scattering it on the floor.
As Goodnight picked it up, the cashier hit him in the side of the head with the crowbar
Officers went to the store, where Young immediately asked if they were there about what "happened earlier,"
After officers told Young that Goodnight was deaf and unable to communicate verbally, Young responded "Oh,"
clipped from: www.star-telegram.com 