On Sept. 10, at around 8 p.m. Granby Police Department responded to a call about an older female patron who was causing a disturbance at the Dollar General and refused to leave. When the officer arrived at the scene, he found three people standing near the entrance of the Dollar General.

Upon entering the store, he made contact with the customer and another Dollar General employee. Before the officer had entered, the three individuals were involved in a chaotic disagreement. Ice cream, Coca-Cola and a handicapped parking spot were the catalysts.

According to a police report, earlier that evening an elderly customer had parked her car illegally between two accessible parking spaces. The orientation of her vehicle was also blocking portions of the access aisles that are designated areas used by people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices. This space allows people with disabilities to get in or out of their vehicle. The space is usually marked with stripes to discourage people from parking in them.

The woman’s vehicle was also blocking the entry ramp onto the sidewalk, allegedly. When Sky-Hi reporter, Emily Gutierrez visited the Dollar General, she did note that the paint distinguishing parking spots was faded.

When the officer arrived, the manager of Dollar General was accusing the customer of hitting him twice, once with her bag. To this, the woman turned to the manager and said, “What bag, this wallet with pennies?”, according to the incident report.

A shopper who claimed to witness the altercation said that it began when the manager confronted the customer about her parking job. The manager’s statement corroborated this information. He turned to her and told her that she could not park where she did, and that if she parked like that again he would get the police involved. According to the witness, this is when “all hell broke loose.”

The customer had arrived at the Dollar General in order to purchase an ice cream and a Coke, according to her statement. She had allegedly refused to remove her vehicle before checking out and began to argue with the Dollar General manager. According to the manager, after he asked her to move her car she responded with,”I know every cop and I can do what I want.”

At this point, the manager told her that he was not going to check her out and that he reserved the right to refuse service.

The customer can be seen attempting to take the items off the counter before the manager grabs them and removes them from the counter, according to the security footage described in the incident report. This upset the woman and she initially refused to leave the store, the manager claimed.

The manager says that the customer’s parking job had actually blocked parking for a disabled employee at Dollar General. This employee called the manager and notified him that someone’s car was preventing her from parking. In the employee’s statement to the officer, she said that she identified as handicapped and would use a wheelchair at times. In order to gain access to her wheelchair she needs space so that she can maneuver her wheelchair in and out of her vehicle.

After taking the items off the counter, the manager can be seen in the footage calling 911. He requested that police respond to trespassing. After this, the customer decides to leave, but the manager told her that she would have to stay until the police arrived.

The customer starts to make her way to the exit when she encounters the female Dollar General employee, who was now inside the store. Security footage shows the two exchanging words inside, then the customer is seen pushing a shopping cart towards the female employee. The older woman then lets go of the shopping cart and begins walking towards the exit.

At this point, the manager can be seen in security footage standing in front of the doors to prevent the customer from leaving the store.

While reviewing the security footage, the responding officer noticed that at this point the elderly woman raised her cane in the air above her shoulder. In his statement, the manager said he believed that she was going to hit him and so he grabbed the cane. The cane was removed from the woman’s possession at this point.

The customer then struck the manager twice in the stomach with her fists, according to the security footage described in the report. She then punched the female Dollar General employee in the arm to which the female employee then slapped the older woman in the face. After this, the manager stepped in between the two women.

The officer says the two women can be seen in the footage reaching around the manager as they continue to hit each other. The older woman then hit the manager’s upper torso. The female employee then reaches around the manager and slaps the customer in the face once again. It is at this point that the officer pulls up to the store.

According to the manager, he never pushed or struck the older woman, and only took her cane away when she raised her cane towards him.

When the customer was asked by the officer whether she touched or threatened anyone she denied it. However, she did say that if she wasn’t handicapped, “I would have socked her in the face,” according to the incident report. It can be inferred that the woman was talking about the female Dollar General employee.

After calling law enforcement, the manager believed that he had the right to detain and keep the woman in the store. He did not use physical force to keep the woman inside the store, he just used his body to block the exit. The incident report says that “further scrutiny over the legality of the detainment needed to be conducted.”

The officer also said in the incident report that he believed that the older woman was not a threat to the Dollar General employees.

The officer followed up with the older woman at her residence later that evening. When the officer mentioned that she should correct her parking, she said that she has lived in the area for a long time and that she has always parked like that. The officer’s made note of her stubborn attitude in the incident report.

“I have parked like that a thousand times before and you should have caught me before,” she said, according to the officer’s report.

The officer on the scene visited the woman once again Sept. 11 to see if she had any visible injures, giving the injuries time to develop. He observed no visible injuries on the older woman’s face during the visit, but she claimed that she had experienced bleeding in an ear and that a tooth was damaged. She told the officer that she did not seek any medical attention.

Granby Police Department has officially charged the female employee, Rebecca Thissen, with disorderly conduct.