Caleb Hughes, Platteville Police Officer, Arrested For Allegedly Assaulting An Elderly Thornton, Colorado Costco Employee

Early this week, Platteville, Colorado police officer Caleb Daniel Hughes, 26, was arrested and formally charged with third-degree felony assault against a Costco gas station attendant over the age of 60, considered an at-risk adult.

The Denver Post reports that the elderly Costco gas station employee asked Hughes to simply turn off his car engine while pumping gas when Hughes allegedly became aggressive and violent.

A witness says that Hughes was just reiterating what the station signage was already clearly stating -- that engines need to be turned off when pumping gas -- and in a statement to 9News that Hughes then told the gas station attendant:

You need to tell me what law or statute says I need to turn the car off.

The elderly victim then proceeded to try and turn the emergency gas shut off switch on the pump itself when officer Hughes picked up the gas station attendant and allegedly threw him backwards. The victim asked Hughes again to turn off his car and Hughes threw him again, this time against a pole, cutting his arm on a piece of metal as 9News and 7News report.

7News reports that Hughes claims the senior citizen employee “rushed” him and and tried to reach into the vehicle to turn off the engine and Hughes was just pushing the attendant away.

9News also reports that Hughes is also facing two other charges -- careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident -- from a separate incident from early December, 2010