Family accuses Wawa clerk of racial profiling at Lauderhill store, demands apology
Wawa store managers are looking into complaints of racial profiling at the company's Lauderhill location.
Two teenage brothers allege a clerk singled them out and warned both to shop quickly or be watched because they looked like thieves who had stolen goods.
One of the teens recorded a video and shared a 24-second clip with CBS News Miami.
It begins with one teen discussing what kind of donuts to buy.
"Should I get glazed or powdered?" Gabriel Reid said in the video clip.
Gabriel and his brother Emmanuel are homeschooled. Last fall, they began to wrestle for Piper High School, where their dad, Gary, is a volunteer coach.
Gary Reid drives his sons back and forth to the high school.
On their way home last month, the teens begged to stop for snacks with a girl on their team, Gary Reid said. Reid gave his sons cash, Gary Reid said.
With their teammate, Reid's sons went inside the Wawa on North University Drive near Piper High School. Gabriel recorded part of his snack hunt for fun.
Moments later, a clerk startled them, the teens said.
"Guys, are you going to purchase something?" a woman's voice said on the recording shared with CBS News Miami.
"Yeah," the teens replied.
"Okay," the woman's voice responded. "Don't be too long in the middle of the thing because then I have to watch you."
"My younger son, Gabriel, rushed in (to my truck) hyperventilating," Gary Reid said. "The lady thought we were trying to steal something. I said steal? What are you talking about?"
"She said to us that I have to watch you if you're stealing or something and I don't want to have to do that," Gabriel said. "It was obvious she wanted to do that because there were other people in the store that they're standing there."
"Then she pointed out my oldest son Emmanuel," Gary Reid said. "She says that one, he's always been here, stands in this same spot and, you know, we always have issues with him stealing stuff."
"We weren't even in that area before," Gabriel said.
"The only way he comes here is through me picking him up, taking him here and taking him home," Gary Reid said. "So, this is the first time we've even been in your establishment."
"She assumed that I stole or was there before because other kids that look like me, have dreds like me and all that stuff and it just felt like harassing," Emannuel said.
Jennifer Wolf, Senior Supervisor of Corporate Communications for Wawa responded in a statement, emailed to CBS News Miami.
"It is always our goal for every customer to have a positive experience when visiting our stores. We take any concerns raised by customers seriously and will look into this matter and address accordingly.
Gary Reid wants an apology. One of his sons is hesitant to go back to Wawa stores while the other considered cutting off his dreds to avoid being accused of being a thief, Reid said.
"For him to say that was just very disturbing," Gary Reid said. "That's why I said you know what, I can't let this go. I can't."