Police in Baxley, Ga., have identified two people in connection to a Friday attack on a restaurant owner and her 15-year-old daughter.
Nathaniel Eric Smith and Latasha M. Smith viciously assaulted the mom and daughter outside their family owned restaurant in broad daylight before fleeing, all because their chicken was cold and they didn’t get enough fries.
The Smiths ordered two meals and complained about the meal. Jeanette Norris, the owner, issued the couple refunds, but they continued to argue and slammed the windows of the restaurant on their way out.
“She went berserk. They both lost it, him and her both; started cussing and beating on the window,” Norris told NBC.
Video footage of the incident shows Natasha Smith viciously assaulting Jeanette Norris, after the owner came out of the restaurant to tell the customers that police were on the way. The male companion of the attacker looked on as she threw violent punches, breaking Norris’s nose.
At this point, Norris’ teen daughter stepped out of a truck nearby to interrupt the assault. In response, the grown man punched the teen girl with full force, throwing her several feet back against a wall.
The teenage girl walked around in shock for a few seconds and broke down in tears when onlookers came to comfort her.
Warning: Disturbing Content
Note: police assured NBC that although the timestamp on the video reads 2010, the recording was made in 2017.
“One of my employees yelled, ‘He’s got her,’ and that’s when I realized he had hit her,” Norris said. “Who does that? Who punches a child like she’s a grown man standing there?”
Police who viewed footage of the incident said they’ve never seen such conduct in their entire careers.
“I’ve been here, what, 41 years - 30 of them as chief. I have never seen anything like this. I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Chief James Godfrey of Baxley Police Department told NBC.
The assailants have been identified as Nathaniel Eric Smith and Latasha M. Smith.
The couple is considered dangerous with tendency toward violence.
Police say the suspects fled in a cream or silver-colored 2007 Cadillac Escalade with tag number REU8495. The couple also have two other vehicles one a silver 2004 Cadillac Deville 4s with Georgia tag number PVK5483, and the other a green 1996 Cadillac Deville 4s with Georgia tag number BXQ1673.
An ambulance arrived on the scene to treat the mother and daughter. The mother suffered a broke nose, while the daughter had a concussion and bruising.
“The security camera footage that we put out tells it all. That’s just pure brutality,” said Chief Godfrey.
After the video surfaced online, the police department received numerous tips from people online and on the phone.
“You hear the old saying, ‘people don’t want to get involved.’ They got involved,” Jeanette Norris told NBC. “Between Facebook, social media, and you guys at WTOC, it has been amazing the response we have gotten from people.”
If you have information about the suspect, police ask to contact them at 912.367.8305, or the 911 Center at 912.367.8111 as soon as possible. Police warn anyone who might come into contact with the couple to use caution.
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