Scottsdale police say Bath and Body Works brawl wasn’t racially motivated

PHOENIX – Police said Monday there was no evidence that a weekend brawl at a Scottsdale Bath and Body Works store was racially motivated or related to COVID-19 protocols.

The Scottsdale Police Department said in a press release that the fight, which went viral on social media, broke out after some customers were accused of taking cuts in the checkout line Saturday at the Scottsdale Fashion Square store.

“Since the date of the initial incident and investigation, numerous social media posts and media stories have shared cellphone video and varying reports of what took place,” the release said.

“That information has varied from reports of it being a racially motivated incident to a COVID/mask/social distance altercation. There is no evidence to support those claims.”

The confrontation between two groups of customers in line turned physical before store employees broke it up, police said. The situation was largely under control by the time officers arrived on the scene just before 5 p.m., police said.

A video posted to Twitter by user @gendenslow picks up the action when a fight appeared to start between a customer and an employee. Other employees and customers joined in before the offending parties were forced to leave the store.

The clip (WARNING: violence and graphic language), which is a little more than a minute long, had more than 10 million views by Monday afternoon.

Two women, 25-year-old Briana Johnson and 45-year-old Johlyn O’Daniel, were charged with assault and disorderly conduct for their roles in the fight, police said. They were cited and released at the scene.

The charges were based on information gathered through witness interviews and surveillance video, police said.

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