Mr. Herschel Pike, 72, of 118 Fern Hollow Road, Sautee, Georgia, has
been a White County resident since 1973. He is a retired industrial
engineer (Lockheed Martin, Marietta plant, 1981-2012). He has lived at
his current address, with his wife Mabel, since 1988. He has shopped
at the Cleveland Food Lion at 2040 South Main Street, on Saturday
mornings, per his own account, "for the better part of three decades."
At 11:47 a.m. on Saturday, January 3, 2026 — approximately four hours
after the United States Department of Defense, in a 6:00 a.m. Eastern
press briefing, announced that U.S. special-operations forces had,
following airstrikes on military installations in northern Venezuela,
arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores
at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas — Mr. Pike was
standing in aisle seven (rice, grits, dried beans) of the Cleveland
Food Lion, examining a five-pound bag of Hoover's Stone-Ground Yellow
Grits.
He was wearing a navy-blue windbreaker (Columbia brand, water-resistant
nylon), khaki slacks, and white New Balance walking shoes.
At 11:48 a.m., per the store's interior security footage, a customer —
subsequently identified by White County deputies as Mr. Brent Corveau,
41, of Cleveland — approached Mr. Pike from the rear. Mr. Corveau placed
both hands on Mr. Pike's shoulders, turned him to face forward, took a
step back, and, in a voice several other shoppers subsequently described
to this reporter as "excited" and "confident," said: "Señor Maduro,
you are under citizen's arrest."
Mr. Pike, who does not speak Spanish, was, per his subsequent account
to the Sheriff's deputies, "not Venezuelan at any point in my life."
The resemblance
This reporter has, for the purpose of this article, examined both men.
Mr. Pike stands 5'11", weighs approximately 215 pounds, has a full
head of gray hair (receded at the temples), a gray mustache (bushy),
and wears wire-frame glasses. Mr. Maduro, per his publicly available
photographs prior to his January 3 arrest, stood approximately 6'2",
weighed approximately 230 pounds, had dark hair and a dark full
mustache, and did not wear glasses.
The resemblance, this reporter submits for the record, is limited to
the mustache.
The encounter
Mr. Corveau, per the deputies' subsequent interview with him at the
White County Sheriff's Office, said he had, approximately 30 minutes
before entering the Food Lion, stopped at the RaceTrac gas station at
the intersection of South Main and Cleveland Highway. A news ticker
was displayed, per store convention, on the top portion of the gas
pump's advertising screen. The ticker displayed a headline — Mr.
Corveau said he was "pretty sure" it was a CNN ticker — reading
"BREAKING: PRESIDENT MADURO TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AT MIRAFLORES."
Mr. Corveau, per his own statement, "drove straight to the Food Lion"
to buy milk. Upon entering aisle seven, he observed Mr. Pike. He
observed Mr. Pike's mustache. He "put two and two together."
Mr. Corveau did not, he conceded, consider that the U.S. Department of
Defense had already confirmed Mr. Maduro's arrest in Venezuela —
approximately 2,000 miles from Cleveland, Georgia — four hours prior.
The citizen's-arrest attempt lasted, per the store footage,
approximately 14 seconds. Mr. Pike, once he understood what was
occurring, said: "Son, I am not the president of anywhere." Mr.
Corveau's grip loosened. A nearby shopper, Mrs. Edna Whitfield of
Demorest, said at this point: "I believe that is Herschel Pike of
Sautee."
Mr. Corveau, per his statement to deputies, then said: "Oh, God."
Disposition
Mr. Pike did not press charges. Mr. Corveau was issued a Notice of
Lawful Encounter by the White County Sheriff's Office, a non-arrest
administrative record which may be used as evidence in future matters
but does not, at issuance, itself constitute a charge. Mr. Corveau
purchased the milk. He went home.
Mr. Pike, interviewed Saturday evening at his home, was unshaken. He
expressed only one concern: "He made me drop the grits. That bag was
on sale. I am not going back today."
Mrs. Pike, asked whether she planned to shop in Mr. Pike's stead, said:
"I will. And I will keep my eye out."
Reader Comments
Leave a comment ↓