Woman Dubbed 'Permit Patty' Calls Police On Young Girl Selling Water
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBSMiami) -- A San Francisco woman is being called racist for allegedly calling the police on an 8-year old girl for selling water without a permit. The girl's mother recorded the confrontation on video and now the woman, who complained, Allison Ettel, says she feels horrible.
Jordan Rodgers was selling water
"She asked me 'Where's my permit?' And I didn't know what a permit was," explained Jordan.
The girl immediately called for her mother Erin Austin who took video.
The girl's cousin posted the video on Twitter with the hashtag #PermitPatty and wrote, 'So my little cousin was selling water and didn't have a permit so this lady decided to call the cops on an 8 year old.'
Erin explained her daughter was selling water to help raise money for a family trip.
"Recently I lost my job and we were planning a trip to Disneyland before that happened. And so it kinda sidelined us a bit. And my daughter just wanted to help," said Erin.
The incident is the latest high profile instance of black people being reported to authorities for seemingly normal things. Many are comparing Ettel to a woman at Lake Merritt in Oakland who called police to report a black family who was lawfully barbecuing. That woman was dubbed 'Barbecue Becky.'
Last month, a Yale grad student called police on a classmate for napping in a common area.
Two months ago, two men were detained for using a Starbucks bathroom and sitting at a table for several minutes without ordering.
Saturday night Ettel tweeted: "I would like to make a public apology for my actions. They were wrong. I was stressed and admittedly did the wrong thing. I am not racist and what I did had absolutely nothing to with her race. I have apologized on the Huffington Post."
She told the Huffington Post that she acted because Rodgers and her mother were screaming but that after watching the video she feels "horrible and heart-wrenched."
Erin denies screaming and says the situation should never have escalated to calling the police.
"Leave kids alone, let kids be kids, if they're not hurting anybody, who cares?" she said.
Jordan says she plans to keep selling water. As for the trip to Disneyland, Musician Jonathan Brannon saw the story and has already paid for Rodgers and three of her family members to go whenever they'd like.