She was dragged out of a Michigan dollar store. Now her family is demanding answers
Viral Facebook Live video shows what happened
Will Jones, Anchor/Reporter
Woman roughed up inside Family Dollar in Detroit
Woman roughed up inside Family Dollar in Detroit
NOW PLAYING
Gunfire hits family home with kids inside on Detroit’s west side
‘Make it Home’ program helps 1,500 Detroit families
Small businesses work to stand out for holiday shopping
Ribbon cutting ceremony takes place on Detroit’s Fox Family Center
2 Detroit charter schools are in running for $1M national prize
DETROIT – A viral Facebook Live video showed a woman getting dragged out of a dollar store in Michigan. After seeing it, her family is demanding answers.
The video from Monday showed Family Dollar store employees dragging a woman, identified as Sunda Carter, out of the store during an alleged shoplifting incident at the chain’s Grand River location.
The confrontation captured on video shows employees struggling with Carter before dragging her from the premises, an incident that has raised concerns about how retail establishments handle suspected shoplifting cases involving individuals with mental health challenges.
“The video gets worse and worse the more you see it,” said Faith Carter, the woman’s sister, who first spotted the viral video and alerted their mother, Mildred Thomas.D
Family members revealed that Sunda Carter struggles with mental illness and is currently homeless, highlighting a broader challenge facing many Detroit residents. Thomas, who cares for Carter’s children, says the family has faced challenges in securing help for her.
The family contends that the store employees’ actions were excessive and potentially dangerous.
“Yes, it is wrong to steal, but they could have called the police. There are other ways to go about it,” Faith Carter said. “This could have really escalated. She could have passed out. She could have had a heart attack.”
After viewing the video, Thomas visited the store seeking explanations about the incident.
“I need Family Dollar to reach out to me. I don’t need to reach out to Family Dollar,” Thomas stated.
The family indicated they may pursue legal action.
A store employee told Local 4 they couldn’t comment on the incident. Local 4 also reached out to the Family Dollar media contact, but the company has yet to respond.
During our interview, the family of Sunda Carter shared that they were unable to locate her and were concerned about her health and safety.
Detroit police later confirmed they have one person in custody, but would not say if it is the alleged shoplifter.
They also said their investigation is ongoing.
Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Maryland hairstylist seen dragging 15-year-old client in viral video speaks out: ‘She ran’
MD hairstylist charged with assault after dragging teenage client
A Prince George’s County hairdresser has been charged with assault after posting a now-viral video that showed her dragging a 15-year-old client following a dispute over payment. The hairdresser and mother of the teenage victim spoke exclusively with FOX 5’s Shomari Stone about the incident tonight.
The Brief
-
- A hairstylist in Prince George’s County is now facing second-degree assault charges after a viral video showed her dragging a 15-year-old client through her salon.
- The incident began over a payment dispute when the teen reportedly sent the money for her service to the wrong CashApp account.
- The hairstylist, 18-year-old Jayla Cunningham, and the teen’s mother both spoke exclusively to FOX 5’s Shomari Stone.
EXCLUSIVE – A Maryland hairstylist has been charged with assault after posting a now-viral video that showed her dragging a 15-year-old client following a dispute over payment.
The video showing 18-year-old Jayla Cunningham dragging the teenage girl now has over 54 million views on social media. Cunningham originally posted the video herself and is now facing charges following the incident.
In the video, you hear her yelling at the teen, saying, “Sit right here until somebody sends it. I”m not f***** playing. You just tried to f***** run. You lucky I ain’t beat the s*** out you.”
The backstory:
Cunningham claims the 15-year-old was trying to leave without paying for the $150 service that included a weave. You can see her grab the girl and drag her by her hoodie before cutting the weave out of the teen’s hair with scissors.
“She ran. Forget trash, she ran without paying me,” Cunningham said. “I dragged her by her hood back into the salon until I could get paid or, you know, until the police come or until, you know, she let me take out the service, because it’s like she literally ran outside, like she was about to be gone. I feel like if I didn’t do that, she would have been gone and I would have just never been paid.”
RELATED NEWS: Viral video shows Maryland hair stylist dragging alleged teen client by her hair
But the 15-year-old’s mother also spoke to FOX 5, saying Cunningham also grabbed her daughter’s hair when she went for her hood, pulling the teen through the salon by her head. She says her child is traumatized.
When asked how her daughter is doing following the incident, she told FOX 5 that she’s “not good at all.”
Charges Filed:
The teen’s mother filed a police report against Cunningham. She says her daughter accidentally sent the money to the wrong CashApp account and maintains that the girl was trying to figure out how to pay Cunningham.
“It’s just absolutely absurd. It’s viral. It’s all over the country,” she said.
Cunningham told FOX 5 she did not know she was being charged and she says she will bring a witness to back up her claims. She says she’s been receiving death threats on social media and she is concerned about her safety.
The family has hired the Jackson and Associates law firm to represent the 15-year-old in a civil lawsuit.
“The video is horrendous. It’s a 15-year-old girl. We’re talking about someone’s child here — a child who is being dragged across a salon floor by her jacket for over something as simple as a mistake,” attorney De’Aja Thompson said.
Cunningham is facing a second-degree assault charge. She has a summons to appear in court on April 18.
New Statement:
On Tuesday, March 11, the attorney representing Cunningham exclusively reached out to FOX 5’s Shomari Stone with a statement on his client’s next steps.
Read the full statement below:
“As Indicated, I represent Jayla Cunningham in her criminal case. She intends to plead not guilty and confront the charges lodge against her. What is depicted on that brief video clip that has gone viral is most unfortunate.
What I would like to get across, however, is that we shouldn’t be quick to past judgment base on a 2 second clip. We should step back and look at the case from a Birds Eye view to see the bigger picture.
There are much the video failed to show. For example the service provided by my client and the young lady running away from paying for the service. I don’t see an assault. This is a case where a young lady ran away without paying for a service that my client performed. That young lady committed a theft.
My client did nothing different a loss prevention person from an establishing would do if someone committed theft. The video shows a business owner protecting her business interest.
We must remember my client is also a teen. She is the victim in all of this…. My client should be applauded and celebrated for having her own business at such a young age and not worry about others taken advantage her.”
Dollarama investigating after video shows security dragging alleged shoplifter to back of Winnipeg store
32-year-old woman was later charged with theft, drug possession: police
Social Sharing
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
A woman has been charged and Dollarama is investigating after security guards dragged a suspected shoplifter to the back of one of its Winnipeg stores earlier this week.
Dora Wood says she was at the Dollarama on Portage Avenue, near Donald Street in the city’s downtown, around noon on Wednesday when she saw two security guards pinning a woman, who Wood said appeared to be Indigenous, to the ground inside the store.
“They were roughing her up,” she told CBC on Saturday. “She was laying on the ground, helpless, and that guy had his knee on top of her [back], and she’s a small lady.”
Wood says she started recording the incident on her cellphone shortly after.
Get more with a free CBC account
Comment on articles, stay in the know with our newsletters and stream more on CBC Gem.
WATCH | Eyewitness video shows Dollarama security drag woman to back of store:
Eyewitness video shows Dollarama security drag woman to back of store
June 10, 2024|
Duration1:50WARNING: This story contains disturbing details. Dora Wood says she took this video as security detained a woman accused of shoplifting at the Dollarama on Portage Avenue near Donald Street in downtown Winnipeg on Wednesday. CBC has altered the video to conceal faces and profanities
At the start of the video, two men are seen pulling a woman, whose hands appear to be bound behind her back, down an aisle toward a room marked “employees only.” The woman cries out that she does not want to be taken there and tries to get away, but the men hold onto her arms and pull her into the room.
“We already arrested you,” a guard tells the woman, as he appears to drag her into the room.
Wood and another man yell at the security guards not to take the woman to an area further back in the room, as they record the incident on their cellphones. The man holds the door open as another person, who appears to be an employee, assures him that the woman will not be harmed.
“We have a licence, and we are justified to arrest people in the case of shoplifting,” a security guard tells the man.
Wood begins to film through the crack of the open door, and the woman accused of shoplifting is seen continuing to scream and cry, saying she wants to be let go. The men who dragged her into the room hold her arms and restrain her as she thrashes.
“I want to get out,” she yells. “Leave me alone, let me go.”
One employee urges her to calm down before Wood’s video ends.
CBC has not been able to verify the identity of the woman in the video, but Wood says she was later told by a St. Theresa Point councillor that the woman is from that northern Manitoba First Nation.
Wood says she’s angry about how the situation at the store was handled.
“There are more ways to handle it more properly, especially with an Indigenous woman.”
- Manitoba earmarks more money for Winnipeg police overtime to address retail theft, assaults
- Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs withdraws business from Winnipeg hotel after video of restrained woman
A Dollarama spokesperson told CBC its loss prevention officers are authorized to observe people who conceal merchandise and/or exit the store without paying for it, but the franchise does not permit any use of force to apprehend suspected shoplifters.
“Upon learning of this incident, Dollarama immediately put the third-party security firm on notice while we investigate why protocol was not followed and to ensure that Dollarama standards are followed in the future,” the spokesperson said in a Friday statement.
Woman charged
Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jason Michalyshen said officers were called to the Dollarama Wednesday regarding a shoplifter in the custody of loss prevention officers.
A 32-year-old woman was arrested, taken into police custody and charged with theft under $5,000, possession of methamphetamine and on two outstanding warrants, he said. She was released on an undertaking.
Wood says she doesn’t feel the charges justify how the woman in the video was treated.
“They still shouldn’t have treated her that way. They should have properly handled the situation,” she said.
“They should have just waited for the cops to come instead of taking her to the back.… Roughing her around like that is uncalled for.”
- Investigation underway after woman allegedly punched by Winnipeg grocery store supervisor
- ‘Enough’s enough,’ Foodfare owner says after family’s vehicles set ablaze outside Portage Avenue store
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak — an advocacy organization that represents dozens of northern First Nations, says it does not condone crime, but does not accept how the men dragged the woman into a secluded area of the store.
Physical force should be avoided to detain suspected shoplifters unless necessary, and a female employee or third-party witness should be present for any interactions in private spaces when women are detained for alleged shoplifting, MKO said in a Thursday news release.
The organization also says retailers must have transparent measures to detain alleged shoplifters, including surveillance cameras in spaces where detained people are taken, and training to ensure staff understand socio-economic factors that can lead to shoplifting.
Wood also wants to see cultural sensitivity training introduced at the store, but for now, she says she won’t be returning.
“I’m too scared.”
