Posted on November 19, 2012

Shocking Video Reveals Moment Woman Shopper Punched Elderly Walmart Greeter — As She Is Jailed for Five Years

Daily Mail (London), November 19, 2012

The woman who punched a 70-year-old Walmart greeter in the face after she asked to see a receipt for merchandise she was carrying out of the store has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Jacquetta Simmons, 27, was sentenced Wednesday for the attack that knocked Grace Suozzi to the ground, and fracturing the side of the elderly woman’s face.

Jacquetta Simmons

In court Simmons said she was sorry for the incident that injured Grace Suozzi on Christmas Eve in 2011, but the judge and prosecutor Larry Friedman say Simmons hardly seems sorry.

‘She absolutely did not accept any responsibility for what she did,’ Mr Friedman said.

The sentence stems from an incident in which Ms Suozzi had asked Simmons to show her a receipt for some electronics purchases she had made at the back of the store, a witness told ABC 13, when the young woman attacked.

Ms Simmons responded with a punch to Ms Suozzi’s face, knocking her to the ground.

The sentence stems from an incident in which Ms Suozzi had asked Simmons to show her a receipt for some electronics purchases she had made at the back of the store, a witness told ABC 13, when the young woman attacked.

Ms Simmons responded with a punch to Ms Suozzi’s face, knocking her to the ground.

Simmons and her male companion then ran out of the store in Batavia, New York after the confrontation but were detained by employees and customers until police arrived, assisted by a large crowd that had surrounded Ms Simmons’ car so she couldn’t drive away.

The incident was captured on security cameras inside the store, and the video was part of the evidence used to convict Ms Simmons.

In court, Suozzi broke down as she told the court how her life has changed since that attack: ‘What she has taken away is irreplaceable, she has taken away my independence…she has taken away my joy and replaced it with trauma.”

Suozzi says she is bruised, afraid, depressed and cannot leave the house. She relied on that Walmart job to pay her bills and is now struggling.

Suozzi said there were times when she thought she would die following the assault. She says she suffers to this day, both physically and emotionally.

The judge called the assault ‘brutal and senseless.’

Simmons attorney says they will appeal the conviction.