Nike is apologizing after a white manager at a store in Southern California accused a black family of stealing a $12 basketball they had just bought for their toddler.
Parents Joel Stallworth and TaMiya Dickerson said they were racially profiled and wrongly accused of shoplifting at the Nike store in Santa Monica earlier this month, according to KCBS-TV.
The manager, who has since been fired, called police after the couple and the child left the store.
Dickerson later posted a video on social media showing their 19-month-old son Samuel holding the ball in the store and a copy of the receipt for the ball, KCBS reported.
>> The video is posted here. Warning: Contains graphic language
Nike spokesman KeJuan Wilkins said Friday the company is looking into the incident.
"We are taking the recent situation at our Santa Monica store very seriously, and we are currently investigating the facts," Wilkins said in a statement, according to NBC News.
“We have reached out to the family to express our deepest apologies, and we will continue to work with our teams to ensure we deliver on our expectations for consumer experiences,” he said said.
The couple later returned the ball for a full refund, KCBS reported.
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