This was not a good birthday for the former Chief Met at WALA in Mobile.

John Edd Thompson, the longtime chief meteorologist at WALA until his retirement in 2009, says he was attacked at a gas station in Mobile last Tuesday.

That also happened to be his 81st birthday.

Thompson said he had just eaten lunch with his wife and had pulled in to get gas when a white man in is mid- to late-20s with light brown hair came up to him and asked for money. He said when he told the man he did not carry cash, the assailant called him a liar and cursed.

“I started to get into the right side of the car,” he said. “And he grabbed me by his right hand and started punching me in the face.” “Then he decided he’d throw me down on the concrete. … I got thrown down on the concrete,” he said. “And before it was over with, he got in his car, and he acted like he was gonna run me over.”

Thompson said he believes the incident was random. He said he does not believe his attacker recognized him.

Thompson said he filed a police report.

H/T WALA