Two sisters attempted to steal luxury food items from a grocery store in Massachusetts last weekend — but the pair exploded when store employees confronted them about the stolen goods, according to police.
The West Bridgewater Police Department said in a statement that officers were deployed to the Market Basket grocery store around 5 p.m. Saturday over reports of two customers “fighting with store employees.”
‘They screamed and directed racial and demeaning words at [a store employee]. Those words included “p***y and [the N-word],” which were loud enough for everyone in the front of the store to hear, causing an offensive condition without a legitimate purpose.’
“The investigation revealed that an employee had observed two women concealing high-priced items, including lobster meat, prime ribeye steaks, and truffle butter, in a bag while shopping,” the statement reads. “The women did not pay for those items at checkout and were confronted by an employee.”
Police identified the shoplifting suspects as 37-year-old Olivia L. Byrd of Quincy and 28-year-old Rahjane J. Byrd of Hyde Park.
Police said the pair were “argumentative, screamed obscenities, and assaulted two store employees.”
Alexander Oseas — a Market Basket employee — told investigators he grew suspicious of the sisters because most of the items in their cart were not bagged except for goods in a blue bag, the Boston Globe reported.
“He tried to take the blue bag from them, and Rahjane tried to get it back, causing her to fall to the floor,” the paper noted, citing a police report.
In addition, Oseas and co-worker Wesley Kimbrel “pleaded with” the sisters to leave the store, but they allegedly “continued both their verbal and physical attacks” against the employees, the Globe reported..
“Rahjane struck Oseas with the blue bag filled with groceries,” the paper added, citing the report, and “Olivia then struck Kimbrel with her purse several times and slapped him across the face.”
The Globe, citing the report, also said Rahjane Byrd “struck Oseas several more times with the bag filled with groceries,” and he suffered a small cut on his face.
The violent incident was caught on video, and it shows one of the sisters smashing a worker in the face with her cell phone.
Oseas said the sisters “became argumentative and belligerent and began to direct racial slurs and other demeaning terms at him,” the paper noted.
“Both Rahjane’s and Olivia’s actions annoyed and inconvenienced the shopping public with their fighting and tumultuous behavior,” the West Bridgewater police report read, according to Boston.com. “They screamed and directed racial and demeaning words at [a store employee]. Those words included ‘p***y and [the N-word],’ which were loud enough for everyone in the front of the store to hear, causing an offensive condition without a legitimate purpose.”
The police report also said that “both females continued to scream obscenities and directed threats at both Oseas and Kimbrel as they made their way out of the store,” according to the Globe.
The sisters exited the grocery store, but police confronted the pair in the parking lot.
The siblings informed officers that they were working for Instacart and that they were shopping for a customer, Boston.com noted.
Olivia said she confronted an employee who she felt suspected her of shoplifting, the Globe said, citing the police report. Boston.com indicated Olivia alleged a store employee watched them closely as they paid for the groceries and tried to take their shopping cart when they were confronted.
When the sisters were questioned about the expensive items in the blue bag, Olivia said the “bag was hers and that the items in it were an Instacart order canceled by one of her customers,” the report stated, according to Boston.com.
The Globe said Olivia claimed the proof of the Instacart cancellation had disappeared from her phone.
Police noted in the report that the sisters’ account of what happened in the grocery store was plagued by “inconsistencies,” and the pair “were evasive, providing only the bare minimum to prove that the high-priced items in their shopping cart had been paid for,” according to the paper.
Olivia said her sister fell as she was pushed by an employee trying to take their shopping cart away, the report said.
“Olivia reacted and admitted to pushing and hitting the employee on the face with her phone,” the report stated, according to the Globe. “Olivia told me she should not have struck the employee but felt she needed to defend her sister.”
Police said the sisters were arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, shoplifting by asportation, and disorderly conduct.
A judge ordered the sisters not to enter Market Basket and to have no contact with employees of the grocery store.
The suspects were arraigned Monday in Brockton District Court.
The sisters pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on personal recognizance.
The Byrd sisters are scheduled to return to court on Dec. 17, according to records.
The West Bridgewater Police Department and Market Basket did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.
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