After a brawl in a Clovis Home Depot parking lot, man arrested speaks out

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Punches and racial slurs flew across the parking lot of a Home Depot this weekend and ended in the arrest of a young man and lots of questions about who was at fault.

It's a knockdown, drag out that's generated thousands of views on social media. Michael Hundley, 20, on the giving rather than receiving end of the madness.

"I was scared, I was trying to leave, I made my mistake. I was trying to leave for my life," said Hundley.

The trouble began Saturday afternoon as Hundley was leaving the Home Depot. He approached a man in a van to ask for a cigarette. He said that man's response fired him up.

"He was on his phone and got irritated. I looked back, I could have sworn he said (expletive). I lost my temper and I blacked out," said Hundley.

In the minutes that followed the verbal jabs quickly turned physical. Hundley said he punched the man several times and kicked him-- all because he thought he said a racial slur.

"I'm called that four times a month. It's something that I got to learn to deal with, but it's hard, it makes me feel like an outsider."

We reached out to the man who claimed to be the victim. He didn't respond to our request for comment but admitted in this Facebook comment he only used the word after he was attacked and apologized.

In the video you can hear Hundley saying he's sorry as well.

"I apologize--you know, that was wrong."

He said the negative Facebook comments have painted him as a thug when he's just a college student who made a terrible mistake.

"They are calling me (expletive), lynch this guy. Show people how it could tarnish your life, your character, have hatred."

Hundley was arrested for battery and driving without a license. He said he sustained injuries when another car rammed into him and is thinking about pursuing charges.