It seems that the most recent story of the refusal to show a receipt has inspired others. Unfortunately in this case it got ugly.
Off-duty officer involved in Wal-Mart fight
By Daniel Silliman
[email protected]
An off-duty police officer got into a fight at Wal-Mart.
Clayton County Police Officer Sue Bennett was shopping at the store at 10 p.m., Saturday. She was standing in the checkout line of the 6065 Jonesboro Road, Morrow store, according to her police report, when she saw a woman walking away from a clerk, carrying a large red box.
The clerk was telling the woman she had to pay for the electronic item.
The woman, who looked to be in her late 30s, was saying, “I paid for it.â€
The box wasn’t in a Wal-Mart bag, Bennett said, and didn’t look like it had a sticker showing it had been paid for.
The employee asked to see a receipt.
The woman said, “I paid for it. I don’t have to.â€
Bennett got out of line. Though she wasn’t wearing a uniform, Bennett said she showed the woman a badge and identified herself as a police officer. She told the woman to talk to the employee, but the woman ignored her, pushed past the employee and the police officer and headed for the exit, according to the police report.
“I gave [her] verbal commands to stop,†Bennett reported. “She did not comply, so I used empty-hand-control techniques, taking hold of her wrist and elbow, and advised her she was being detained for investigative purposes.â€
The woman struggled against the off-duty officer’s hold. When she calmed down, Bennett let go and pulled out her cell phone to call the Morrow Police.
The woman ran for the door.
When Bennett caught up with the shoplifting suspect, she grabbed her and told her to “stop resisting,†and “put her hands behind her back,†according to the report.
Struggling with the woman, who weighs, Bennet said, about 155 pounds and is about five-feet, seven-inches tall, the officer swept her leg under the woman, bringing both of them to the floor.
The two women were fighting in the doorway, said Christopher Todd, a Jonesboro resident who was shopping at the time of the incident.
“I was shopping,†Todd said, “and a cashier said over the P.A. system that a Aisha is needed in front of the store by the grocery doors.â€
Then the same voice came over the system and repeated the request. Then, Todd said, the cashier asked for a manager or security. Then he heard: “A manager and security is needed at the front door. There is a fight. I repeat, there is a fight.â€
Todd said everyone ran to the front doors, and saw two women “clawing at each other.â€
“Over a hundred people circled the front grocery door,†he said.
Bennett said that might be a bit of an exaggeration, and estimated the number of onlookers at about 20.
According to Bennett, they gathered around her and the other woman, where they were fighting on the floor, and she said she was a police officer and asked for help.
She didn’t get any help, though.
The woman bit Bennett’s arm and grabbed her hair. A man grabbed Bennett by her hair. Another woman held her down.
“Several people in the crowd that had gathered then grabbed onto me by my hair, arms and clothing, pulled me off of [the woman] and allowed her to escape,†Bennett reported.
Todd said he called 911, but got a busy signal. He called a second time, and when he couldn’t get through, he then left the scene and continued shopping.
“At this time,†Bennett said, “my badge was in plain view on the ground next to where [the woman] and myself had been. Several Wal-Mart employees were yelling that I was a police officer and for them to let me go.â€
One woman, described as a black, 40-year-old woman weighing 165 and about five-feet, eight-inches tall, reportedly retorted: “I don’t care if you are a police officer. I work for the state.â€
The shoplifter lost her shirt, in the fight, and left Wal-Mart wearing only a short, blue jean skirt, Bennett said. Responding to the officer’s 911 call, Morrow Police couldn’t find the shirtless woman with the big red box.
They arrested a 22-year-old man identified by employees as the one who grabbed Bennett by the hair.
Bennett was taken to Southern Regional Medical Cente, and treated for the bite wound on her forearm.
On Wednesday, she said the incident was “crazy.â€
