00:00Patricia Tarver went to her neighborhood Walmart for one thing, a phone card.
00:05Now the 71-year-old grandma is seeking legal action against Bainbridge Public Safety and Walmart
00:11after an argument that wasn't even hers left her on the ground.
00:16WALB News 10's Taylor Lewis takes us through what happened.
00:24It's a trip 71-year-old Patricia Tarver has made countless times.
00:28Stop by Walmart to get a phone card and head home.
00:32But on August 18th, that routine trip took a turn.
00:35According to a Bainbridge Public Safety incident report, Tarver and her daughter Amita Spear
00:40were both cited for disorderly conduct.
00:43Tarver tells me it started when another shopper threatened her.
00:47She said she told the woman she wanted no part of it.
00:50That's when Spear was called to come to Walmart to check on her mother.
00:55Tarver says when her daughter got there, the argument continued.
00:58Police responded, and Tarver says she walked away, believing she was no longer a part of the situation.
01:05I have seen stuff like that before, but I never thought it would happen to me.
01:11Tarver says an officer grabbed her as she reached for her purse and threw her to the ground.
01:16Spear, still in handcuffs a few feet away, never saw it happen.
01:20She only heard it.
01:22It's like a scream that was so scary that everybody was running out of Walmart like they were shooting or
01:29something.
01:29But it was my mom screaming because my mom was on the ground.
01:33Tarver says the encounter left her with more than bruises.
01:36He slammed me so hard on the floor I wet my clothes.
01:40I did.
01:41It was so embarrassing.
01:43According to Tarver and Spear, after being taken to jail, neither was fingerprinted, had a mugshot taken, or were required
01:51to postbond.
01:52Both were released.
01:53Tarver's other daughter, Stephanie Ware, who is a nurse, says she took her mother to the emergency room.
01:59She's having to go have MRIs.
02:01She's going to see a shrink for counseling because it's really traumatized her.
02:07She's taking all kinds of antidepressants.
02:11It's just horrifying.
02:12Like we were saying earlier, I don't even like to talk about it.
02:15I definitely can't look at the video because, you know, just bring back memories of that night.
02:20I spoke with Bainbridge Public Safety Chief Walton and asked where the case stands.
02:26We were contacted by a relative that was concerned about what happened.
02:31I told her to initiate a complaint, and from there, that would start the internal investigation process.
02:40WALB also reached out to Walmart.
02:43In a statement, the company's press office says,
02:46The safety of our associates and customers is top priority.
02:50We defer any further questions to law enforcement.
02:53The chief tells me this matter will be thoroughly investigated.
02:58But as for Patricia Tarver, she shared that she is now left permanently scarred.
03:03Taylor Lewis, WALB, your hometown news source.
03:08All right, thank you, Taylor.
03:09And Bainbridge Public Safety says the internal investigation is ongoing,
03:13and that body camera footage will be available through an open records request once it concludes.
03:19WALB News 10 will continue following this story.
