At a Walmart in West Monroe, La., two white men, Dylan Reynolds, 22, and Michael Walters, 24, followed a Black female shopper to her car.
When she was approached, she quickly threw her groceries in her car, as the men shouted racial slurs, including the n-word. As she drove away, they ran after her, hurling more slurs and even a shopping cart at her car.
Walmart surveillance cameras caught the two men on tape in the store, and after a police call out for information about the suspects, social media quickly identified the men, including the getaway car, a gray Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck that was seen on Reynolds’ Facebook page.
On Thursday night, the two men were apprehended after a two-week manhunt for them, and booked into Ouachita Correctional Center. Bond is set at $20,000 for each man. The hate crime charge, if deemed a felony, is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Because she slowed for “speed bumps” in the parking lot, one of the men was able to strike her car with the shopping cart, causing over $1,000 in damages.
Walmart has yet to comment on the safety issue at their store.
Crimes that fall under Louisiana’s hate crime law include: battery; aggravated battery; second degree battery; simple or aggravated criminal damage to property.
The account of the incident by police was on the arrest warrant:
“On 11/29/2018 the West Monroe Police Department was dispatched to Walmart (1025 Glenwood Drive West Monroe, LA) in reference to a disturbance/property damage call for service. Upon arrival, it was learned a black female victim was terrorized while exiting the store in the parking lot area of the business for no apparent reason. While the victim was leaving the store and attempting to load her purchased items in her vehicle, she was confronted by two white males. While in the parking lot the victim was yelled at and called a “n- – – – -“. The female rushed the items in her vehicle and tried to escape the two white males while they were yelling racial slurs at her. As the victim fled the scene in her vehicle, one of the two white males chased after her on foot while pushing an empty shopping cart. The male violently crashed the shopping cart into the rear end area of the victim’s vehicle as she slowed for “speed bumps” in the parking lot near the front entrance area of the business. That aggravated damage to the victim’s vehicle not only caused her over one thousand dollars in damages to her vehicle but put her safety at risk while driving away from the two aggressors as well. After the damages were performed, both males got into a dark gray Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck and fled the area at a high rate of speed.”
