Video Shows Walmart Employee Attacked by Group

Safety at Work

Indianapolis, IN (WorkersCompensation.com)  - Officials said an attack on an Indiana Walmart employee by a group of customers was caught on video that has since gone viral.

According to a video posted to Facebook by user Kind Butler, the fight occurred in the checkout aisle of an Indianapolis Walmart on August 29. In the four-and-a-half-minute video, a crowd of approximately eight people crammed into a checkout aisle. Someone within the crowd yells slurs at the worker while other store customers nearby watch.

The video shows one woman throwing several punches at the worker as other employees try to pull the two apart. At least three people appear to be punching and hitting the employee, and up to two Walmart associates attempting to help the employee as she falls to the ground.

One of the attackers, a woman in pink, is seen stomping and punching the employee. Other customers hold the two women apart as some of the other members of the attackers’ party continue to punch and kick the employee on the ground.

"Where you at b---," can also be heard repeatedly shrieking by one of the people engaged in the fight.

At one point, the fight is momentarily broken up and the employee is able to get to her feet after being attacked for about a minute, but one of the crowd, who is holding a toddler can be seen throwing something that appears to be a lint roller at the employee.

At that point, the employee charges at the woman in pink and the melee starts again until more employees are able to intervene and separate all of the parties involved. After about 20 seconds of yelling from separate areas, the violence starts again with the attackers and their group attempting to find the employee, who was secured within the customer service area.

"The violence that occurred at our store on Friday was unacceptable," Walmart said in a statement. "We appreciate the police for acting quickly.”

Police reports identified the employee at Tikerra Hicks.

The customer who filmed the attack, Kind Butler, told Fox 59 he visits the Walmart nearly every day to stock his rental properties. He said he heard that the group was the family of an alleged rape victim that was trying to find someone who may have been involved in the attack. The attack on Hicks started without warning, he said.

“There wasn’t any questioning, no anything,” he said. “Just as soon as they saw the girl, the whole family came over and started beating her up.”

Hicks told the police she had been getting calls about an incident involving her friend, but she had no indication the violence would spill into her work. She said she had just come back from the bathroom when she was ambushed.

“I just hear, ‘There she go’ and then boom on the side of my head I feel somebody hitting me,” Hicks said.

Hicks is named as an “other person” in a Beech Grove police report documenting a rape investigation, but she insists the allegations are made up.

Hicks said she’s been suspended from Walmart following the brawl. The whole situation remains a shock to both her and Butler, who said private problems shouldn’t be handled so publicly.

“I’m just glad everyone was OK, and hopefully they solve the issues,” Butler said.  

No arrests have been made following the fight.  Members of the management teams at the Walmart where the fight took place indicated that they are not allowed to talk about the situation.

Local media said the location of the fight was known to the Indianapolis Metro Police. Last year, IMPD was called to the location 65 times. Of those, two calls were for fights or disturbances.

Police said this year they’ve been called 59 times so far and eight of those calls were for fights or disturbances.

"This remains an open investigation referencing a verbal argument and a physical altercation," the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement on Monday, Sept. 1. "There have been no arrest(s) at this time."

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