Asiah Epperson, Brittany Lucio and Erica Walker are the three women involved in the latest scandal involving Houston’s Restaurant in Atlanta.
Rapper T.I. recently called for another boycott of of the chain after the three ladies were arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrested after an off-duty police officer allegedly assaulted them at the restaurant.
After days of speculation and outrage, the ladies have all come forward to give their side of the story and Houston’s has responded with a statement as well.
Details + video below…
Police claim the incident started because Brittany Lucio and her two friends refused to leave Houston?s women?s bathroom after the restaurant closed despite being asked multiple times, first by management then by the security officer.
According to the police report, when the security officer first approached the women, they laughed and looked at their phones. At the third request, police say the officer grabbed Lucio?s wrist and said ?let?s go,? he says she kept resisting and punched him in the mouth.
The 3 women were all arrested and Lucio was charged with both criminal trespass and felony obstruction.
Lucio told TMZ that she firmly believes her skin color played a role in the aggressive way the security guard took her down, and she says the restaurant’s track record proves it.
One of the other women arrested, Asia?h Epperson, told Channel 2 Action News in a statement the security officer is lying and she plans on taking legal action. The Atlanta Police Department says that officers? actions are under review.
“Like I said, the statement that was released was false and exaggerated. It was not after hours. The restaurant was open. It was full of people. We asked if we could use the restroom and we were given permission to do so. We were in the restroom maybe 7-8minutes.
Actually Using the restroom, and On the phone with the Uber driver trying to give directions to where we were! Period. We weren?t doing anything wrong. We were never asked multiple times to leave. That is a lie. We are moving forward very rapidly with this matter things will be handled legally!”
Atlanta-rapper T.I. has called for the Houston?s chain to be shut down.
As you know, the entertainer was crucial in ending a previous boycott of the restaurant earlier this year that stemmed from allegations of racial profiling after they refused serve to a group of black customers (click HERE if you missed that).
Meanwhile, Houston’s has released the following statement regarding the incident:
“We are aware of a complaint regarding an incident at our Houston?s Restaurant on Peachtree Road on May 13th and are cooperating with the Atlanta Police Department (APD). The evidence we have seen thus far shows that three women arrived approximately 30 minutes after closing time, they went into the restroom as a group after being told that the restaurant was closed, the three stayed in the restroom for more than 10 minutes, and refused to leave despite repeated requests from several managers to do so. Eventually, an off-duty Atlanta Police Officer again asked the women to leave. An altercation with the APD officer ensued which led to additional APD being summoned.”