DOCUMENT: Stupid, Crime

Cops Bust Man For Battery Over Doritos

Argument over tortilla chips results in felony rap

View Document

Doritos Battery

SEPTEMBER 10--A Florida man is jailed on a felony charge after allegedly battering his live-in girlfriend during a 4 AM argument “about eating Doritos,” police report.

Matthew Coppenbarger, 26, was arrested early yesterday following a confrontation with Paula Griffiths in the couple’s Clearwater apartment.

According to police, Coppenbarger “physically threw” Griffiths “out of their apt. causing minor bruising and red marks to the victim’s arm.” Officer David Bruneau added that the pair’s argument was “over and about eating Doritos.”

While the officer did not further describe the Doritos dispute, it likely involved one party consuming the tortilla chips to the consternation of their significant other.

Coppenbarger and Griffiths have lived together for three years, reported Bruneau, who added that Coppenbarger was convicted last year of attacking Griffiths. According to court records, Coppenbarger pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge and was sentenced to six months in jail and placed on two years probation.

While the execution of the six-month sentence was stayed by a judge, Coppenbarger had served about four months in custody following his arrest. He was cited for a probation violation in December 2014 after his bust for marijuana possession. Coppenbarger spent about three months in jail following that collar.

Pictured in the above mug shot, Coppenbarger has returned to the Pinellas County lockup, where he is being held in lieu of $5000 bond for the Doritos-related battery. (1 page)