A Stone Mountain woman accused of triggering a recent melee at a Walmart nail salon received somewhat of a legal break Wednesday when a Gwinnett County judge ruled she could post a surety bond instead of a $10,000 cash bond, according to Channel 2 Action News.
The ruling allows Monnessia Wright, 35, to make bail arrangements through a bondsman to get out of the Gwinnett jail as she fights charges of aggravated battery and fighting in public in the Nov. 21 incident outside Snellville.
Cellphone video captured the fight at the store on Centerville Highway during which Wright allegedly threw a porcelain bowl that smashed into pieces and hit a 17-year-old customer, breaking two of her teeth and leaving a gash on her chin.
A store security guard followed Wright outside of the store and was able to get a vehicle description and tag number. Witnesses, along with the cellphone footage, linked Wright to the fracas, and she was arrested Nov. 28.
In court Wednesday, Gwinnett Detective Collin Flynn said Wright denied she started the fight.
"She [Wright] told me that her daughter was struck first and that she initially got into the fight to break the fight up," the detective said.
He also said Wright was angry “over the fact she had to wait in line to get her nails done.”
According to witnesses who spoke after the attack, however, Wright became upset with the salon's pricing and spent a half hour loudly complaining to workers and customers alike.
The screaming and cursing eventually turned to fisticuffs when the woman's children clashed with the child of another customer, police said after the incident.
Wright has been locked up in the Gwinnett County Jail since her arrest. By being able to post bond through a bonding company, she would be able to put up 15 percent or less of the $10,000 bond amount, depending on the bonding company's requirement.
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