Video of woman trashing Northeast Philadelphia business goes viral; owner encouraged to stay open
Video shows a woman throwing trash from trash cans and bins all over the grass in front of a business that caters to children.
ByTaRhonda Thomas
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- When Alysha Jackson decorated her business, Sugar and Spice Kiddie Spa in Northeast Philadelphia, she just knew there had to be a lot of pink in the décor.
"I love the color pink, honestly," she said.
It goes perfectly with the glam services she offers.
"We do manicures, pedicures, facials, makeup all for the girls," she said.
The color also goes well with the nursery rhyme that inspired the spa's name.
"Sugar and spice and everything nice," Jackson recalled of the rhyme.
But what happened on Sunday afternoon in front of the business was not so nice.
A video that Jackson recorded shows a woman throwing trash from trash cans and bins all over the grass in front of the business which caters to children.
"(She was) dumping trash, picking up trash, throwing it everywhere," said Jackson of the woman who she says lives across the street from the business. "She was in my face like 'youse people are always around here!'"
Jackson says the problems started long before Sunday. She's been in the location for seven years.
"She had been putting cat food on the steps and all over the property just to feed the cats," Jackson said. "They're having lots of kittens. Lots of cats are coming over when my customers are here. They're pooping."
Jackson isn't sure why, but she can't help but wonder if the actions are racially motivated.
"I'm the only Black business over here and you choose my business to put cat food on?" she said.
Jackson called the police on Sunday and showed them the video of the woman dumping trash on her lawn
"They gave me a (police report) number and they left," Jackson said of the officers, adding that she had to pay out of her own pocket to have someone come clean up the trash.
Action News knocked on the door of the home Jackson says the woman lives in. No one answered the door or returned calls from messages left on the home's doorbell recording system.
Jackson says the woman threatened to return to the business every time Jackson hosted a child's party. That alleged statement lead Jackson to do the only thing she felt she could.
"I closed," she said. "So I've been closed all week."
As she closed her doors, she opened up on social media. An employee posted the video which went viral.
"Overall the (social media) networks, (the video has) probably close to a million (views)," she said.
All those views lead to messages from across the country.
"I felt a lot of love and support. It's crazy and very overwhelming," she said.
That support changed Jackson's mind about staying closed even after she contemplated shutting down permanently.
"We're going to open our doors! And we're going to celebrate," she said of the celebration planned for Friday afternoon.
A security guard volunteered his services to watch over the business after seeing the video on social media. As for the woman who dumped the trash in the video, Jackson hopes she'll get the message.
"I don't want her to be severely punished... I just feel like she needs a fine so she can learn not to do it again," said Jackson.
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