Dollar General Clerk Whips Customer’s Unruly Child With Belt 25 Times

Wrightsville, Ga., Dollar General store clerk Emilia Graciela Bell was arrested last Thursday and charged with two felonies, aggravated assault, and cruelty to children when she whipped a customer’sunruly 8-year-old child with a belt at least 25 times, according Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The alleged incident began when Bell confronted the child in question, Logan Ivey (pictured), after witnessing him running around the store. When Bell attempted to reprimand the boy for his antics, Ivey threw a cookie at her for reportedly calling him a “demon.”

Bell is then seen, via the store’s video, removing her belt, running after Ivey, and spanking him repeatedly on the back behind a counter.

Watch video of the incident here:

According to Logan, who spoke to WMAZ Macon, “I felt like I had five needles sticking in me; it really hurt. I was screaming, Mama,” he said. “And I was crying real bad because she [the clerk] had actually hurt me…when she stopped whipping me, my pants were actually a little bit warm.”

Logan had been accompanied by his mom and sister when he entered the store but went off on his own about the store afterward. Logan’s mom did not witness Bell spanking her child.

After viewing the video and delving in to the situation further, a Dollar General corporate spokesperson said that Bell had been fired and released the following statement with regards to the bizarre incident:

Dollar General strives to provide a safe and welcoming place for our customers to shop. We are deeply shocked and saddened by the reported incident at our store in Wrightsville, Ga and have expressed our sincere apologies to the child’s family.

This incident is contrary to our core values of serving our customers and communities and does not reflect the commitment of our nearly 93,000 employees to treat everyone who enters our stores with kindness and respect. The type of behavior described in this incident is unacceptable, and the person responsible is no longer employed by Dollar General.

Meanwhile, Logan’s father, Jody Ivey, who says he has never struck his son with a belt, likens Bell’s actions to a beating rather than a spanking. He told WMAZ Macon, “It was more or less a beating than a spanking the way she was hitting him. I don’t know how to explain it, and I don’t want to think about it.”

Bell was released on bond just one day after her arrest. If found guilty of the charges, Bell could be facing a maximum of 20 years in prison.