Cracker Barrel restaurants has banned Troy Dale West Jr., accused of beating a woman in front of her child, saying he cannot go into any of their establishments for the rest of his life, the company said Friday.
The restaurant chain is based in Lebanon, Tenn. The assault happened last Wednesday in Morrow.
"Cracker Barrel believes that what happened is reprehensible. It could have happened anywhere, and we are dismayed that it happened in the entrance of our building," the company said in a statement.
The restaurant gave police a surveillance video. The company said its policy is to give surveillance video to police and other law enforcement agencies only.
Tashawnea Hill said West punched and kicked her so hard a week ago that her head still hurts.
"I have knots on my head," Hill, 35, told CNN Wednesday.
Troy Dale West Jr., was arrested for kicking Hill and yelling racial slurs at her in front of a Morrow Cracker Barrel. West is out of jail, having posted a $12,150 bond.
Police charged him with beating Hill, an army reservist, in front of her 7-year-old daughter.
Police said witnesses, as well as a surveillance video, have confirmed her account, which the FBI is investigating as a possible hate crime.
West is white. The woman is black.
A police report said West admitted striking Hill "after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door." Hill's attorney Kip Jones told CNN that did not happen.
Jones also told CNN he was "convinced this was a hateful, racist attack ... based on the N-word, the B-word, etc."
"The language was vile. It was racist. It was sexist. It was completely offensive, completely unprovoked," Jones told CNN.
Witnesses told police that Hill kept telling West that she was in the Army.
“She kept saying, ‘Sir, I’m a United States soldier, don’t do this,’ ” Morrow Police Capt. James Callaway said.
Hill said Wednesday that she is still in shock.
"I haven't been able to sleep since then," Hill told the Associated Press. "My major concern is that my daughter is OK. Mommy will heal up. Mommy will get better, but she's the future."
West told Morrow police he became upset because Hill spit on him after accusing him of trying to hit her daughter, according to the police report. But several witnesses said they never saw Hill spit on West.
West was charged with cruelty to children, a felony, because he beat the woman in front of her daughter, Callaway said.
He is scheduled to appear in court at 3 p.m. Sept. 28 for a preliminary hearing.
Morrow Police referred the case to the FBI Civil Rights Division, saying it may be a violation of the Federal Hate Crime Law, defined as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation."
The FBI investigates hate crimes when it receives a complaint from what the agency deems a reliable source: the victim, a witness or another party.
West could not be reached for comment. His mother told the Associated Press that her son would never hurt a mother, especially in front of a child.
"This just doesn't sound right," Johnny West said.
Staff Reporter Megan Matteucci and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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