Published: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 / Updated: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 07:29 AM
Clover shopper accused of assault
Authorities: Irate woman at grocery store attacks girl, mom raising funds for school
An irate grocery shopper assaulted a Clover mom and daughter Monday evening after they tried twice to sell her school fundraising items she didn't want, police said.
Officers arrested 49-year-old Julie Pinkston Watkins, also of Clover, and charged her with two counts of assault and battery in an incident outside the Bi-Lo store on S.C. 274 in Lake Wylie, according to the York County Sheriff's Office.
Watkins slapped the mom, who was selling fundraising items outside the store's entryway, then shoved a shopping cart into the side of the 7-year-old daughter, authorities reported.
Surveillance video footage shows that someone swung at the mother with closed fists and that the mother tried to defend herself, starting a fight in the parking lot, authorities reported.
Watkins told officers the mother shoved and hit her first, then threw her to the ground. When asked a second time what happened, Watkins said she couldn't remember exact details, a sheriff's report stated.
Watkins also told police she was asked to purchase the fundraising items when she entered the store, then was asked again when leaving. In a “loud, firm manner,” she told the sellers she wasn't interested, Watkins said, according to the report.
The mother told police she approached Watkins because the woman was “very rude” to her daughter, and she believed Watkins shoved her child in passing. She admitted to defending herself when Watkins slapped her, and she wasn't charged, the report stated.
Bi-Lo employees told police Watkins had been “very angry” and was yelling in the store while paying for her groceries, according to the report. Authorities reported they had to ask Watkins to calm down several times because she was “irate, and yelling and screaming very loud.”
Deputies noted that photos taken of the child hours later showed redness where they believe she was hit by the shopping cart.
Watkins was released around 2 a.m. Tuesday on $940 bond.
Christy Mullins 803-329-4062
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