A woman was arrested after an argument over aisle space escalated into a physical battle over a shopping cart at a Walmart in The Villages.
Mauricia Sadonna Arinia Charles, 27, of Clermont, was arrested Wednesday evening on a misdemeanor charge of battery following the altercation at the Walmart at State Road 44 and Morse Boulevard.
According to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department, a 62-year-old woman was shopping with a witness when Charles approached from the opposite direction. The victim told police she tried to move to the right side of the aisle to let Charles pass, but Charles stepped directly into her path and refused to move.
After a brief verbal exchange, the victim grabbed her purse from her cart and attempted to step aside. At that moment, Charles suddenly grabbed the victim’s shopping cart and forcefully yanked it away, nearly causing the older woman to fall to the floor. Charles then delivered several hard, open-handed strikes to the left side of the victim’s head, the report stated.
When questioned by police, Charles claimed she had come to the store to buy snacks for a homeless woman she saw outside. She alleged the victim walked in front of her, swore at her, and struck her first. However, Charles admitted to intentionally grabbing the cart and making unwanted physical contact, acknowledging to officers that the incident was “petty” and that she should have just stepped aside.
Officers noted that Charles had no visible injuries, while the victim suffered fresh lacerations near her left ear and on her right hand.
Police also reviewed the store’s surveillance footage, which confirmed that Charles was the primary aggressor. The video showed Charles deliberately escalating the verbal disagreement into a physical confrontation by grabbing the cart and striking the victim.
Charles was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and was released after posting a $1,000 bond.