Cops: Man Hit Store Clerk Over "Karen" Crack

DECEMBER 1--A Florida Man is facing a felony charge for allegedly striking a female Dollar Tree employee who called his wife a “Karen” during a dispute last night “over grocery bags,” according to court records.

Police were dispatched around 8:20 PM Wednesday to the discount store in Clearwater following an alleged battery on the 20-year-old worker.

According to investigators, Genesis Sanchez Canales, the Dollar Tree employee, got into an argument with a female customer over grocery bags. The customer eventually “began to videotape the victim due to the verbal argument,” an arrest affidavit states.

In response to being filmed, Canales called the woman a “Karen.” At this point, cops allege, the customer’s husband “open hand slapped the victim to her left cheek.”

When officers responded to the store, they arrested Jason Allen Dobyns, 41. Since Dobyns has a prior battery conviction, he was charged with a felony for allegedly striking Canales.

After being read his rights, Dobyns reportedly said there was “a verbal altercation which occurred over the grocery bags,” but that he “no longer wanted to speak about” the “Karen” confrontation.

A Clearwater cop reported that the charged offense was “observed by an independent witness.” An arrest affidavit offers no specifics about the grocery bag dispute (or whether Canales was injured).

Seen above, Dobyns spent the night in the county jail before posting $2500 bond this morning. Dobyns lives in New Port Richey, a Gulf Coast city about 25 miles north of Clearwater. (1 page)