A Popeyes employee faces aggravated assault charges after allegedly body slamming a customer following a heated altercation.
The incident began when an employee apparently overcharged Debra Staggs, 55, for a sandwich, WSMV reports. In response, Staggs said the N-word to the employees.
Video footage does not capture the racial slur. But a customer off-camera could be heard saying, “This ain’t no place to say the N-word.”
The footage then shifts from inside to outside of the restaurant, where employees follow a fleeing Staggs. A male employee picks her up and slams her to the ground. Staggs sustained nine fractures, including broken ribs, and a broken knee following the alleged attack.
Police arrested Deriance Hughes, 29.
“If she said something that she regrets, it doesn’t give a grown man the right to chase her into the parking lot as she is trying to leave the store, and body slam a 55-year-old grandmother down on the concrete,” Staggs’ lawyer told ABC7.
The court decided to hold Hughes on a $20,000 open court bond. He must appear before a judge before he can be released.