Background: Bodycam footage from the Sunrise Police Department recorded after the alleged incident at a Walmart on Jan. 23 (via WPLG). Inset: Keri Estep (Broward County Jail).
A Florida woman accused of battery against an older woman while both were waiting in line at Walmart apparently told the older woman she "deserved" to be attacked.
Keri Estep, 34, was charged with battery against a person over the age of 65 after police said she attacked a 79-year-old woman at a Walmart store in Sunrise, Florida. As Law&Crime previously reported, Estep was waiting in line at Walmart on the afternoon of Jan. 23 and told the older woman, who has not been named publicly, that she had cut in front of her. After a verbal altercation, Estep allegedly struck the older woman in the chest and kicked her.
In body-camera footage from the Sunrise Police Department obtained by local independent news station WPLG, the older woman said Estep "called me an 'old lady' and said I 'deserved it.'"
In a criminal complaint that was reviewed by Law&Crime, a security guard at the Walmart on Jan. 23 told police that he witnessed the verbal altercation and went to intervene when it appeared that it was escalating into violence. The guard told police that a younger female, later identified as Estep, claimed that the older woman hit her shopping cart, which was carrying Estep's baby.
The older woman told the security guard that she never hit Estep's shopping cart. Police said the guard got between the two women, but Estep was able to get around him and kick the older woman.
In the body-camera footage, the older woman can be heard recounting the details of the alleged physical altercation, telling an officer that Estep "reached out and kicked me in my side." While the older woman said she did not need medical attention, she said she wanted to press charges.
The older woman stated to the officer that Estep told her, "You cut in front of me." The woman then said she responded, "No, I didn't, there's two lanes." Estep then allegedly started "beating on" the older woman.
After police identified Estep as the suspect, they interviewed her after reading her rights. Estep told police that she "was concerned for the baby's safety" and believed the older woman was acting "aggressively" toward her. When police told Estep that surveillance footage taken inside the Walmart reflected the older woman's version of events, Estep admitted that her account was "inaccurate."
Estep was charged with battery on a person over the age of 65. She posted $2,500 bail after being booked into the Broward County Jail. Her next court date was not made available.
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