Woman hospitalized after fighting the virus with store employees | Richmond County Daily News

2021-12-06 09:22:11 By : Mr. ben huang

A screenshot of the social media video of the event. Cromartie was dragged across the store.

ROCKINGHAM-A customer at the Rainbow Shops in Richmond Square was hospitalized after a dispute with an employee. The video was filmed and attracted thousands of comments and shares on Facebook.

An accident report from the Rockingham Police Department stated that at 3 pm on November 19, Cecily Nicole Cromartie of Scotland County damaged $500 worth of clothing and display racks and attacked store employees. Cromartie's family claimed in the interview that she was the victim of the incident. According to family members, Cromarty, 43, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and she is taking medication.

After the incident, photos of Cromartie and a policeman showed that her face and neck were severely swollen. The family does not want this photo to be made public. Cromartie's relatives believe that she has not received enough care. They also added that Cromartie was unable to talk to law enforcement due to the swelling.

Cromartie was transported to FirstHealth Regional Hospital and then airlifted to the trauma department of Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. According to her family, since the incident, she has undergone 3 operations and may need more operations.

According to RPD detective Clint Neeley, no charges have been brought against anyone involved in the incident. Cromartie's sister Alice Graham said in a text message on Tuesday night that their family plans to file a lawsuit against Rainbow.

"The detective handling the case advised the persons involved that they can obtain their own arrest warrants from the magistrate's office," Neely said in an email. "The first health emergency service department provided medical assistance on the spot."

No other agency responded to the incident. Neely said investigators saw video clips in the store and videos shared on social media.

Two attempts to obtain comments from local Rainbow employees were unsuccessful. None of the voice mails left to the Rainbow office on Monday and Tuesday were returned.

Graham said that Cromartie was shopping for Christmas in Aberdeen and went to Rainbow to buy items for her two children.

According to Graham and another relative who asked not to be named, Cromarty entered the store wearing a mask. An employee told her to make sure the mask covers her entire face. A dispute ensued, and witnesses in the store uploaded multiple video clips of the incident to social media. Some of the videos reviewed by the "Daily Magazine" lacked the complete background that led to the battle.

Initially, someone saw Cromartie walking towards an employee at the back of the store. Then I saw a Rainbow employee pointing his finger at Cromartie's face.

In another video, Cromartie and a staff member can be seen fighting and pushing each other. After the first conflict was over, Cromarty was seen knocking items off the shelves and throwing out various commodities.

In another video, Cromarty can be seen bleeding on the ground in the basement. It is not yet clear how this injury occurred. Once, a staff member pushed Cromartie to the ground.

"Now, she is bleeding because she waved to me and my colleague," said a person off-screen in the video, apparently talking to the 9-1-1 operator. Another person asked to lock the front door until the police arrived.

Once, an employee of Rainbow walked to a secret room and said, "I have a treat for you." It is not clear what the statement refers to. Cromartie knocked more things off the shelf, then followed the staff to the back. When the employee came out of a closed door behind the store, they immediately rejoined the battle, and Cromartie was thrown on the ground again.

Then, the employee dragged Cromartie along the hood of her sweatshirt along the carpet floor for almost the entire length of the store—about 40 seconds according to the video. In the process, her clothes were partially removed. When she stood up again, the video showed that Cromartie's hips and back were bright red from what appeared to be rugburn, and an eyewitness in the video responded.

Records from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety show that Cromartie was previously convicted of a misdemeanor in March 2017, one of which was misconduct and assault/threats against government employees. Before that, she was convicted of a misdemeanor of theft.

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