Morning Mix

A man got thrown out of his wheelchair for reminding an able-bodied SUV driver not to park in the handicapped space, police say

By Meagan Flynn
Jan. 31, 2020 at 7:04 a.m. EST

Philip Kinstler pulled into the Pleasant Hill, Calif., Target parking lot in his hand-controlled van on the night of Jan. 11. He noticed the black SUV across from him had parked illegally in a handicapped spot.

Kinstler, who has been using a wheelchair for more than 30 years, saw a woman sitting inside the SUV. He plunked his metal ramp down to get out of his van, and decided to go tap on her window.

He pointed to the handicapped sign. “I thought I would ask her kindly if they could not park there again, in a handicapped spot,” he told The Washington Post on Friday morning.

That single request, according to Pleasant Hill police, would lead the woman’s partner to track down Kinstler inside the Target and demand he apologize to her.

Then, as customers and Target employees watched in amazement, the suspect grabbed Kinstler’s wheelchair and dumped him onto the ground.

Rather than returning a shirt at Target, Kinstler ended up going to the hospital with a broken wrist.

“I was in shock,” he said. “I looked down at my wrist, and it was all askew, and then the pain hit and I thought, my life is over.”

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The assault has left 52-year-old Kinstler, who lives alone, struggling to maintain his independence. Paralyzed from mid-chest down, Kinstler said he relies on his arm strength to do everything. With a broken wrist, he can’t transfer himself from his wheelchair to his bed without help from a nurse. He can’t take himself to the grocery store. He can barely wheel himself around his own home.

And the musician can’t play his guitar, one of the hardest blows, he said.

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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Jimmie Tiger was arraigned on Wednesday. He was arraigned last week.

Meagan Flynn
Meagan Flynn is a reporter on The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. She was previously a reporter at the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Press. Follow https://twitter.com/Meagan_Flynn