Video: Mom Knocks Out Michigan Kroger Employee in Front of Baby After Benefits Card Declined

A 20-year-old Michigan mother has been charged with assault after police say she knocked out a Kroger store employee in front of her baby.

Shelby Parham is accused of walking up to a 49-year-old clerk and striking her in the face, knocking her unconscious, reports Fox 2 Detroit. 

The employee was knocked “flat on the ground” and reportedly suffered from a “head injury.”

Shocking surveillance video shows the disturbing incident unfolding Tuesday at the St. Clair Shores supermarket.

ONLY ON @FOX2News: Customer clocks Kroger clerk in the face, knocking her out and sending her to the hospital!! pic.twitter.com/OpIrSfwwTV

— Jessica Dupnack (@JDupnackFOX2) December 8, 2023

“It’s obviously very clear-cut. There’s no questions as to who’s at fault here,” Detective Gordon Carrier told the local outlet.

Investigators say the assault occurred after Parham’s benefits card declined for the items she wanted to purchase at self-checkout.

The alleged attacker reportedly asked the clerk for help deducting some of the items from her purchase but apparently became enraged when the employee did not immediately come to her aid.

“The employee walked away from her. The defendant was upset and followed her and struck her in the face,” Carrier said. 

The incident unfolded while Parham’s one-year-old daughter sat in her shopping cart.

Police arrived at the scene “within minutes” and arrested Parham, according to the news station.

The mother bonded out on $1,000 but faces up to one year behind bars if convicted of the misdemeanor assault charge.

The clerk, who has remained unnamed to the public, reportedly sustained a black eye, is suffering from headaches, and is taking time off from work to recover at home.