Walmart brawl in shampoo aisle upsets mayor

Justin L. Mack | The Indianapolis Star

Show Caption Hide Caption Walmart brawl involving 2 women, a child caught on camera A video showing two women fighting inside a Beech Grove, Indiana Walmart has gone viral. The two women tussle for several minutes while a child joins in.

INDIANAPOLIS — Punches traded between two women in the shampoo aisle of the Beech Grove Walmart came as a shock to millions of people when videos of the violent exchange appeared on YouTube.

But for Beech Grove Mayor Dennis Buckley, the incident was just the latest in a series of problems at a shopping center that he feels has gone from a minor annoyance to a public nuisance.

"This isn't anything new. We have been concerned about this for at least two years, and there have been just some quiet talks with Walmart concerning the number of police runs down there and the fact that they're draining our resources every single day," Buckley said. "It's my opinion as mayor that this has to stop."

Walmart officials say they are just as upset as Buckley. They too want to figure out a way to erase any bad reputation the store may have garnered because of the actions of shoppers and stem future troubles. They say they are ready to work with the city to make it happen.

The two sides are slated to meet on June 17 to discuss the situation.

"Now the question is how can we partner with the local community and how can we partner with the local police to limit the number of times they were coming out to the store. ... We can do that, and we stand ready to partner with them," Walmart spokesman Brian Nick said. "Our hope is that we can have a continuing dialogue about moving forward with a program that is good for the community, good for the store and good for our customers."

The videos, uploaded to YouTube on Friday by Brian Marye, Indianapolis, show the brawl between the two women from start to finish at the 24-hour store on South Emerson Avenue near I-465.

What begins as verbal shots traded between two shoppers — one initially in a motorized cart and the other accompanied by her young son — quickly escalates into a fistfight and wrestling match in the aisle.

The boy joins the fracas, too, delivering punches and kicks under the direction of his mother. At one point, he throws a shampoo bottle at the woman his mother is fighting and confronts a group of onlookers who question his actions.

Beech Grove police said charges are expected in the coming days, but they did not elaborate.

In five days, part one of the video had generated 3.6 million views. Part two had been seen about 1.9 million times.

Buckley said he has not contributed to the rapidly rising viewing count.

"I haven't seen it. ... I have been told by several people, including my attorney, in great length about the video, and to me it's disgusting," he said. "It holds the city in the bad light. It holds the people who live here in a bad light. I think the people who were involved in that altercation don't even live here.

"It's just very disappointing."

Adding to Buckley's frustration is a shoplifting incident reported at the store Monday that evolved into a fatal crash when, authorities say, the suspect ran a red light and crashed into two vehicles while fleeing police. The accident killed one woman and left two of her family members seriously injured.

Buckley said he hopes to end some of the trouble stemming from the store by using a new ordinance recently passed by the City Council related to public and environmental nuisances.

Under the ordinance, Walmart could be deemed a public nuisance, Buckley explained. The store would be notified by police, and officers would have the discretion to issue a ticket to the business any time they are called to the store.

Violators would face a penalty of $2,500 and court fees. With nearly 500 police runs to the store so far this year, the tickets could quickly become costly.

Since February 2014 Beech Grove police have made 1,278 runs to the store resulting in 473 arrests.

"We are going down there three or four times a day for theft and other issues, and we just can't do that anymore," Buckley said.

Nick, the retailer's spokesman, said the problem of theft or issues with shoppers is not exclusive to Walmart.

The Indianapolis Star last year examined how shoplifters are becoming more violent.

Nick added that one of the reasons police are called so often is because Walmart associates are identifying problems and reaching out to the proper authorities for help.

"The fact of the matter is some people do enter our stores for the wrong reasons," Nick said. "We're doing everything we can to stop it from happening, and that is where you get a potentially high volume of calls. We're getting police to come out because obviously we're catching these people doing these things."

In the case of the brawling women, Nick said the two have been banned from all Walmart properties. He also addressed question of why employees didn't step in and try to break it up.

"We had associates who witnessed this happening and immediately contacted police, which is the right thing to do," he said. "Our associates are not law enforcement. We want them to stay safe in a situation like that, and we want to make sure that the customers are safe. Asking our associates to engage is not something that we do."