Woman charged in Wal-Mart fracas.

Courtesy www.ajc.com

By David Ibata
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Click here for video coverage.

An altercation between two women in a food aisle of a north Fulton County Wal-Mart left one injured and the other taken to jail, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Fulton County Sheriff's Office Dorothy R. Kemp, 63, of Sandy Springs was arrested and charged with simple battery after police said she pushed a co-worker into a produce cooler during an altercation at a Wal-Mart store in Milton. The two women work for an independent contractor that provides samples to customers

The incident, involving two women who work for a private contractor that supplies samples to customers, happened about 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart at 5200 Windward Parkway in Milton, police said.

"The employees got mad. One got upset with the other and went over and pushed her,” Milton police Capt. Shawn McCarty told Channel 2. "In this case, the suspect lost her temper in the crowded Wal-Mart and took it out on the person she was angry with."
The incident was recorded on the store’s surveillance video, police said.

The victim, 56-year-old Marissa Audry Moody, told police the confrontation started when Dorothy R. Kemp, 63, took her cutting board, according to a police incident report. Moody said she asked Kemp to return it.

Kemp ignored her, so Moody put her frying pan down on Kemp's cart and repeated her request, police said. Kemp allegedly told her to go away.

Moody said she told Kemp she needed a bottle of disinfecting spray, and there was none in the back room, according to the police report. So, Moody said, she grabbed a bottle of the spray from Kemp’s cart and starting walking back to her cart.

An officer who watched the video described what happened next in the recording: “Ms. Kemp ran after Ms. Moody and grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her. Ms. Kemp grabbed the disinfecting spray and pushed Ms. Moody into the fruit [cooler]. Ms. Moody’s feet were up in the air and she could not get out of the cooler.”

A Wal-Mart employee came over and helped Moody out of the cooler, police said. Kemp, meanwhile, had returned to her stand and gone back to work, preparing samples to hand out.

The police were called. After speaking with both women and watching the video, police said, they arrested Kemp and charged her with simple battery. She was released Sunday after posting $3,000 bond, according to Fulton County jail records.

Moody, meanwhile, was taken to North Fulton Hospital to be treated for her injuries. The Roswell woman told Channel 2 that she was injured badly enough to require X-rays and physical therapy.

When contacted by Channel 2 Thursday, an official for the California company that employed the women would not comment when asked if Kemp still worked for the firm.

Contacted at her Sandy Springs home, Kemp also declined comment to Channel 2.