WINTER HAVEN - A dispute at the salad bar turned into a food fracas at an upscale retirement home, with a man biting another's arm and other residents suffering minor injuries.
Police said Lee Thoss, 62, of the Spring Haven Retirement Community was picking through the lettuce, which disgusted 86-year-old William Hocker, standing in line behind him Sunday.
Hocker told Thoss no one wanted to eat food he had been playing with. Thoss yelled and cursed at him, Hocker told police, and Hocker called him a nasty name. Then, witnesses said, Thoss began punching Hocker in the face.
In the melee that followed, Allen Croft, 79, tried to grab Thoss, who bit him on the arm, according to reports. Thoss' mother, Arlene, in her 80s and also a Spring Haven resident, attempted to break up the fight and ended up with a cut arm. Harry Griffin, 92, was at the salad bar and cut his head when he was knocked to the ground.
"All the old folks were either getting up to help or trying to get out of there," police spokesman J.J. Stanton said of the scene in the dining room, which features an ice cream bar and a pastry chef.
Arlene Thoss, Croft and Griffin were treated at a hospital and released. All declined to press charges, but administrators asked Lee Thoss to move out, Stanton said.
