IMG_5167Racial profiling at its finest…

Twitter is on a rampage after several videos of a business owner harassing a young black girl are in the midst of going viral.

A group of girls were browsing at Blooming Beauty Supply in the Stone Ridge Mall in Pleasanton, California, and allegedly returned a beauty blender, then proceeded to head over to Sephora. One of the girls caught the owner of Blooming Beauty on video after he had followed them into Sephora and accused one of them of stealing. This man had this young woman by the arm, and would not let her go, while simultaneously holding on to her bag so she could not move. She struggled to get away from him and he would not release his grip. In the video you see a Sephora employee say she is going to call security as this young woman and her friend continue to scream and try to get away from this bat shit crazy store owner. What’s astounding is that you can see all the people in the background of this packed Sephora onlooking, and not one person attempted to help this poor girl.

A second video was posted to Twitter, and this time mall security was finally present, and the girls were leaving with an adult. As mall security stood right there, this man continued to chase this young woman through the mall. What did mall security do? Nothing. According to tweets from the girls the man continued to follow them while they exited the mall out into the parking lot. Leading to the police having to be called.

The girls maintain that they did not steal anything from Blooming Beauty.

Now, I am not up to date on California state law but I can tell you in the state of New York when you are working in retail it is actually illegal to follow a shop lifter out of the store. Basically, if they make it out of the store with the product you just have to watch them walk away with it. In a store I once worked in we literally had to watch as 3 girls swiped 10 pairs of jeans off of our front display table and then run off. By the time we were able to call store security, the girls had exited the mall and got away. Whether this is the case in California I do not know, but one thing I do know is, this man was completely out of line when it came to putting his hands on this young woman, whether she had stolen something or not! This was a completely inappropriate course of action and if he had truly thought she had stolen something he could have followed her, and contacted mall security without putting his hands on her aggressively. I would consider this a form of assault.

blooming beautyAccording to reviews on Yelp some that are over a year old, this man has a history of racial profiling and aggressive behavior. Several young woman rated Blooming Beauty with one star, commenting that they felt disrespected as the owner followed them closely around the store as if they were trying to steal.

Twitter is angry, as they should be. Social media users are encouraging the young woman to file a complaint with the police department at the very least, if not seek legal counsel and sue. We contacted Lauren, the young woman in question to get a statement about yesterday’s events straight from the source. We did receive a response from Lauren, but she was unable to comment publically on the matter since there is now an open investigation.

Again, it’s 2017 and it amazes me how some people will continue to deny the fact that racial profiling is in existence, and extremely common. It also amazes me how willing people are to let it happen. How can you watch a teenage girl be assaulted by a grown man and not attempt to intervene in the situation? If that were my daughter someday, A) I would hope she would knock his ass out, and B) I would hope that a pedestrian would come to her rescue. I know that if I had witnessed this happen first hand I may not have jumped right in but at the very least I would have gone to get someone who could, I wouldn’t just stand there staring like this is the real life version of World Star.

 




Britt I'm Britt WD. Read my full bio here and follow me on Instagram and Twitter.

12 Comments on Blooming Beauty Owner Follows Black Girl Around Mall Harrassing and Physically Restraining Her

  1. Emma
    March 16, 2017 at 2:03 am (1 year ago)

    Hi, according to Pleasanton PD and Mall Security, this girl stole a bottle of shampoo from Blooming Beauty that day. In California, if a citizen witnesses a crime they are legally allowed to perform a citizens’ arrest until police arrive.

    • Britt
      Britt
      March 16, 2017 at 4:09 pm (1 year ago)

      I’d love to see any receipts you may have on that information. And whether she stole something or not it is inappropriate and possibly illegal for that man to act in the manner that he did. Mall security exists for a reason.

    • Mal
      March 16, 2017 at 6:38 pm (1 year ago)

      Emma, PD nor Mall Security would not share that information with you. I am a former loss prevention officer at Stoneridge. They may say petty theft. And from what is available on record the young lady was not arrested or charged with any crime. Please stop making things up.

    • alani
      March 16, 2017 at 7:47 pm (1 year ago)

      She was not arrested she was assaulted and chased down. If his purpose was to have her charged with stealing he should have called Mall Security. You are repeating what the man said with no evidence

    • Chalyn Coleman
      March 16, 2017 at 10:42 pm (1 year ago)

      Please provide your “proof” or kindly shut up as you are committing slander. No store owner has the right to physically assault a minor regardless if he suspected theft.

    • Marie
      March 18, 2017 at 10:54 am (1 year ago)

      Sue that hell out that mall!! That’s damn ridiculous!

  2. Mal
    March 16, 2017 at 6:32 pm (1 year ago)

    Ok, I was the first black security guard (loss prevention) to work in Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton. To answer your question in California it is only after someone has left the premises with unpaid for property can they be considered to have committed a crime. That being said profiling and following of people in that mall is the absolute norm. Stoneridge is in an affluent area with very few people of color. It got to the point where the biggest danger was robbery rings of well dressed whites. They would hit shops for thousands while we were forced by shop owners to place all our attention on Black and Latino shoppers. If this young lady had stolen something it would have been found by security and she would have been arrested. On the flip side the shop owner most surely should have been arrest for assault and wrongful imprisonment.

  3. Robert Evans
    March 18, 2017 at 5:01 pm (1 year ago)

    He probably had a concealed weapon looking for a reason to shoot someone.

  4. Alexis alvarez
    March 19, 2017 at 2:27 am (1 year ago)

    Dumb girl obviously stole and got caught,she deserves much worse than what he did , I work in retail 99% of the people that steal are BLACK,they give themselves the stereo type by being shady. Point blank.

    • Britt
      Britt
      March 19, 2017 at 10:21 am (1 year ago)

      You can hop right off of this page with your racist ass. You’re disgusting, ignorant, and you deserve a quick slap upside your head. Maybe it’ll knock the stupid out of you.

    • Laila Lee
      March 19, 2017 at 2:48 pm (1 year ago)

      Actually, the biggest group are Asians. However, since they focus on blacks more, whites, Asians and Hispanics go undetected. With a name like yours, you better be careful before they have your ass on a bus or plane to some other country. They don’t like Latino folks either.

  5. H
    March 21, 2017 at 1:30 am (1 year ago)

    Honestly this mall is shit! Like I been to Jcpeny at the Stoneridge mall and they follow people like crazy even at Macy’s I was just waiting for my friend outside the Men’s changing room and they literally thought I was doing something suspicious when I was just texting. They were eyeing me and standing next to me pretending to look at pants. They even questioned me asking what I was doing. I feel really bad for her .
    And empathetic.

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