Midtown salon worker injured confronting customer over $400 tab
Midtown customer flees $400 tab and attacks
Atlanta police are searching for an unidentified customer who ran out on a $400 salon tab on Piedmont Avenue and fractured an employee’s finger on 3rd Street when confronted, according to salon staff.
ATLANTA – An afternoon appointment at an Atlanta nail salon turned violent after a customer skipped out on a nearly $400 bill and fractured an employee’s finger, according to salon workers.
Midtown Atlanta salon theft
What we know:
Surveillance cameras captured a woman checking in under the name “Kate Washington” at Glow Lashes and Nails on Piedmont Avenue in Midtown. She received individual lashes, a full set of acrylic nails with gel polish on her hands and toes, and custom nail art.
Three technicians worked on the client during the extensive appointment. When payment was due, the woman tapped her mobile phone on the Square register system, but the transaction was declined.
Piedmont Avenue street attack
The backstory:
Technician Desmond Ward said the customer offered an excuse before stepping outside the business.
“She said I will leave this here,” Ward said. “It was the eyelash extension care kit. She said I will leave this here I am going to grab my money or my card. I said ok and we watched her walk…. She’s walking pretty far. I don’t think she is coming back.”
Ward followed the customer as she walked along the sidewalk claiming to retrieve cash from her vehicle. The interaction turned physical three blocks away from the storefront.
“On the third street she recognized me because I had on a pretty loud sweater that day,” Ward said. “She said she wasn’t I. The system and she didn’t exists before she punched me. I blocked it with my hand.”
Grady hospital treatment costs
What they’re saying:
Ward blocked the blow with his hand and later received treatment at Grady Memorial Hospital for a fractured finger. Because technicians operate as independent contractors, the unpaid service directly impacts their personal income.
“The cost matters because we are independently contracted, so we get paid off of what we do,” Ward said. “I didn’t get paid for that quality work.”
The shop owner expressed concern about the incident’s impact on business operations, explaining that “you want to trust people” and “this makes it harder to trust.” The owner added that she would hate to change payment policies for all patrons due to one person’s actions.
Atlanta police investigation details
What we don’t know:
Investigators have not yet identified the real name of the suspect, who used the alias Kate Washington during booking. Atlanta police have not reported any arrests, and officials continue asking anyone who recognizes the woman from security footage to contact authorities.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from FOX 5’s Aungelique Proctor, who interviewed salon technician Desmond Ward and the owner of Glow Lashes and Nails, as well as incident details from the Atlanta Police Department.
