'I was harmed:' Pregnant woman calls for firing of security guards at Mayfair after encounter Saturday





WAUWATOSA -- A pregnant woman who said she was taken down by Mayfair Mall security called for their firing Thursday, Oct. 17.

Cellphone video showed Octavia Stitts being held down by security Saturday night, Oct. 12.

Stitts said her daughter was being detained after a fight at the mall, and Stitts said she went to step in and the incident escalated to her being taken down.

Octavia Stitts



She said she had to be hospitalized after what happened. She spoke with FOX6 News from her hospital bed on Sunday.

"The situation could have been handled better," said Stitts during a Thursday press conference. "It felt like I was not safe. My daughter was not safe. I was harmed. My unborn child could have died. It's just horrible."

Stitts was not arrested after the incident, but two others were taken into custody.

Wauwatosa police said they continued to conduct interviews about what happened Saturday night, and they were also looking into the conduct of the security guards.

The Original Black Panthers of Milwaukee on Wednesday demanded Mayfair's general manager fire the security guards involved, with a half-dozen members making their way through the mall Wednesday afternoon in response to the cellphone video.

"We're going to disrupt, disturb. We are going to be good friends, me and you," said Darryl "King Rick" Farmer, Original Black Panthers of Milwaukee.

Mayfair officials told FOX6 News the individuals involved in this incident on Saturday were "disruptive, uncooperative, and became physically assaultive towards security officers."