A Louisiana woman says a routine shopping trip to a shoe retailer escalated into a police encounter after employees allegedly accused her of stealing store merchandise.
Tylisha Carter, who posts on TikTok under the handle heenvyta_, shared two videos showing part of the interaction. They both involved police at DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) inside the Mall of Louisiana in East Baton Rouge Parish. She also later described the incident in a detailed Facebook post.
DSW employee: “Want a box for those?”
Carter alleges the situation began when she entered the store wearing black-and-white Puma sneakers and began browsing for shoes.
“While shopping, an employee approached me holding an empty shoe box and asked if I ‘wanted a box for those.’ Confused, I realized she was referring to the black-and-white Puma shoes I was already wearing when I entered the store.”
She explained to the employee that she had entered the store wearing the shoes. “She walked away with an attitude as if I was lying, then went to another employee and showed her the box. After that, both employees began watching me closely throughout the store,” Carter wrote.
Carter called her mom in case of trouble
Carter notes in her Facebook post that the situation made her so uncomfortable she called her mom “in case anything happened. As I continued browsing,” she wrote, “I had a gut feeling that the police may have been called because one employee stood near the entrance while the other employees watched me aisle to aisle.”
“Feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed, I left DSW and went into Ulta Beauty nearby,” Carter continued. “Shortly after I entered, a female police officer came into the store.” She looked around the entrance area, Carter said. “Once she spotted me, she looked directly at my shoes and made a phone call before approaching me.”
“The officer asked if I had recently been shopping in DSW. I told her yes. She then asked me to put my belongings down. I stepped back and asked, ‘Why? Because of the shoes I have on?’ I explained again that I walked into DSW wearing those shoes and even told the employee that earlier.”
The Pumas came from Nordstrom
Carter also explained that she purchased the shoes from Nordstrom in Minnesota. She removed my shoe and showed the officer the tag, “which appeared to confuse her, because it supported what I was saying,” Carter explained. “The officer then asked me to explain everything that happened inside DSW. After hearing my explanation, she stated that there had been a misunderstanding and said she would return to DSW to inform them. She asked for my ID, but I told her I would walk back with her myself because I knew I had not stolen anything,” Carter said.
According to Carter, they both walked back to the DSW. Then, the officer asked the employee if she was the person they had reported. The employee said yes. The officer informed them that it was a misunderstanding and that there was no theft involving the shoes.
At that point, the employee claimed they reviewed the cameras. The footage supposedly showed Carter entering the store wearing sandals.
Carter noted, “This entire experience was humiliating, frightening, and emotionally distressing. I have never experienced anything like this in my life. If the responding officer had not taken the time to actually listen to me, the situation could have ended much worse. I could have been detained or physically injured which is especially concerning because I currently have a tube in my stomach.”
Carter says she filed complaints with both the Mall of Louisiana and DSW corporate. DSW offered her a $200 gift card, Carter said. “So far, nothing meaningful has been done. Being falsely accused of theft and publicly humiliated is not something that should simply be brushed aside with a $200 gift card.”
There is no confirmed reporting from major local news outlets in Baton Rouge or Louisiana that independently verifies Carter’s allegations. No public statements from DSW corporate or mall management have been reported connected with the incident.
Published: May 20, 2026 02:19 pm