A 65-year-old Black grandmother battling cancer thought it was her lucky day when she found 50 dollars on the floor of her local Houston-area grocery store. However, she ended up being assaulted by three white employees instead.
Betty Smith claims that three white store clerks at the Lindemann grocery store in Industry, Texas detained and assaulted her after she found 50 dollars on the floor of the store, money they claimed belonged to a friend of the store clerk that had been in the store minutes before.
What started as a small disagreement ultimately ended in Smith’s assault and the arrest of her granddaughter, Dezteni Cyrus who arrived on the scene in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The Shade Room has since exclusively obtained the full-length footage of the incident.
The store’s employees have since been fired and the Austin County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file charges on either side.
However, Smith’s family is seeking justice and believes the three store employees should be charged for violating Smith’s human and civil rights.
Could this have been the result of racial discrimination by the employees? Should there be serious consequences for their actions? The Shade Room investigates…
The incident occurred on January 15, when Betty says she thought she was going to die. Not from cancer, but from the three white store clerks who attacked her after finding the money on the ground of the store.
Newly-released surveillance footage shows as Betty pushes her cart towards the register before she bends over to pick up the $50 dollar bill. She can then be seen showing the clerk the found-money, to which she replied “oh that’s Caleb’s.”
Caleb is a friend of the store worker, who had been at the location six minutes prior. Video shows as the $50 bill falls to the floor as Caleb made his purchase, before leaving the store and in turn leaving the money.
Betty said she felt more comfortable giving the money back to Caleb directly or the store owner. One of the employees tells Betty she’s a store manager, and demanded she return the money to her.
The employee threatened to call authorities on her, but Betty says she was not scared. That’s when things quickly escalated.
“Just because you found the money on the floor does not make it yours!” one of the female employees, who is white, tells Betty. “You admitted you found it on the ground.”
“Don’t do an old woman like that,” Betty replies.
“I don’t give a f*** how old you are,” the employee snaps back. “If you can’t respect me, I won’t respect you.”
Betty can then be seen walking towards the store’s exit, prompting the female clerks and a male clerk rush over and lock the door.
When the elderly woman attempts to push her way through them, that’s when “they jumped all over me and choked me,” she told TSR Investigates’ Justin Carter.
Several minutes go by, as the clerks and Betty can be seen arguing near the store’s entrance, presumably waiting for cops to arrive.
Betty’s granddaughter, Dezteni, then arrived on scene in an effort to deescalate the situation. Dezteni can be seen getting into a scuffle with one of the female clerks, just as authorities arrive on scene and handcuff her.
Austin County District Attorney Travis Cohen spent over a month reviewing the case, and considering charges, not only for the physical altercation, but also for whether or not Betty should be charged for stealing the $50.
“Texas law, for decades, has held that a person commits theft if he or she finds lost property and takes it,” the D.A. wrote in a statement.
Ultimately, a grand jury decided NOT to move forward with charges against Betty.
But as for the store employees, they did not face any legal trouble either, with the district attorney finding that they had “the right to perform a citizen’s arrest” when witnessing theft, and can use “the same amount of force that a police officer could under the same circumstances.”
A protest on behalf of Ms. Smith was held outside of the Austin County courthouse on Feb. 28.
Meanwhile, we’re told that the Houston FBI office has assigned an agent for further review.
The owner of the grocery store has since apologized to Betty Smith and fired all three of those employees, and even offered her $50 for her troubles, to which she ultimately declined.
