When store security stopped Jodi, she became afraid and upset. The grandmother informed the security team that Jodi is mentally challenged and would not intentionally steal. She tried to show them the receipt for the hair ties her granddaughter had purchased, but the security team wouldn’t listen to her. And they wouldn’t let her calm her granddaughter down. Jodi, meanwhile, had called her mom, who immediately headed for Wal-Mart. By the time her mom arrived, police were there.
According to a police incident report, Jodi was screaming “at the top of her lungs, causing a scene.” A sergeant asked Jodi to put her hands behind her back because he could not confirm if a bulge in her waistband was a weapon, a cellphone or stolen merchandise. Then came the handcuffs. Jodi pulled away and began screaming, reaching for her grandmother. She was placed against a wall. Two officers “muscled Jody to the ground and handcuffed her behind her back,” the report said. They took her to a private office and started questioning her.
She repeatedly denied stealing anything.
Within minutes, her mom showed up. She tried to enter the interrogation room, but police stopped her. After pleading and threatening a lawsuit, she got in. The image of her catatonic, handcuffed daughter broke her heart.
“I said, ‘Jodi, It’s OK. Mom’s here,’ ” Kozma recalled through tears, noting her daughter assured her she was fine. “She said, ‘That’s OK. God is with me.’ … I believe that God was with her and kept her calm.”