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Austin Co. DA releases all video of woman locked in store over $50
FOX 26 Reporter Randy Wallace spoke with the Austin County District Attorney's Office about the video and what happened.
AUSTIN COUNTY, Texas - A segment of video of the January 15 confrontation between Betty Smith and employees at the Lindemann store went viral.
But does it tell the entire story?
BACKGROUND: No criminal charges to be filed in Austin County case involving woman locked in store over $50 bill
"It's not fair. It's not right to take a little snippet of a 30-minute event and draw a bunch of conclusions," said Austin County DA Travis Koehn.
An Austin County grand jury declined to indict six people involved in the incident. Now, the Austin County DA's Office is making all the store videos public.
"There were four separate cameras, three inside the store and outside that shows the parking lot area," said First Assistant DA Brandy Robinson. "It appears only one camera records audio." And that camera is motion activated.
Still, Koehn says 75% to 80% of all conversations were caught on tape.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Activists demand arrests after grandmother who found $50 was locked in Austin Co. grocery store, assaulted
It all starts when a man unknowingly drops a $50 bill he got in change.
About three minutes later, you see Betty Smith bend over and pick it up.
"After the customer says, I just picked this up. The clerk says that's so and so's property, he was just in here with us. We'll call him and get him to come back to get his money," Koehn said.
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EXCLUSIVE: Austin County woman attacked by grocery store clerks over $50 bill she found
**EDITOR'S NOTE: Interview was recorded before grand jury announcement** The store's manager tells FOX 26 all of the employees involved have been terminated. None of them face any charges at this time.
Smith wanted to hold on to the $50 until the next day.
"The manager, who jerked the bill away from the customer, the customer lunged at that manager to grab her by the throat, and that's the first time that one of the clerks even started to put any hands on the customer," said Koehn.
"When the grand jury met this week, Miss Betty Smith didn't get a fair shake in the Austin County Justice System," said Pastor JR Johnson with Seeking Justice Organization.
"He cropped those cameras off our pictures and made them himself," said Betty Smith.
She claims the videos were edited.
"There was not a boy. I never choked those girls, they're lying. I never put my hands on them. I never had a chance to put my hands on those girls," Smith said.
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"We will continue to ask the FBI and the DOJ to intervene in this criminal act," said Johnson. "We want you to understand, we are not going away."
Several community activists plan to hold a protest at the Austin County Justice Center.