A woman who claimed to call the cops on an 8-year-old girl selling water outside her home has resigned from her position as CEO of a California cannabis company after the incident drew the ire of the internet.
Officials withTreatwell Healthannounced on Tuesday that Allison Ettel’s resignation, effective immediately, was “in the best interest of their patients.”
“She regrets her part and is remorseful,” the statement continued, according to KRON.
Last week, video footage of the incident began spreading around the internet after the girl’s mother, Erin Austin, posted aclip of the confrontation on Instagram. She wrote alongside the video: “An 8-year-old selling water in front of her apartment building where she’s lived her whole life is NOT a reason to call the police,” Erin Austin, the child’s mother.
The footage showed Ettel — now dubbed online as “Permit Patty”— crouching behind a wall as she appeared to make a phone call. As Austin recorded the encounter, Ettel is shown saying, “Illegally selling water without a permit!”
“I tried to be polite, but I was stern,” Ettel told the outlet. “And I said, ‘Please, I’m trying to work. You’re screaming, you’re yelling, and people have open windows — it’s a hot day. Please keep it down.’ ”
However, Austin toldTodaythat Ettel never asked them to be quiet, “she just came out and directly demanded to see a permit to sell water from an 8-year-old.”
“That woman thought that she could use her white privilege and it didn’t work,” Austin added.
Ettel later admitted toThe Huffington Postthat she was only “pretending” to call the police. The San Francisco Police Department told PEOPLE they “did not receive a call from this person to report this incident.”
Speaking through tears, Ettel toldTodaythat she’s gotten death threats since the footage went viral. However, many have pointed out online that the woman’s act could have subjected the little girl to police brutality.
“I am tired of worrying some #PermitPatty will call the police on my child and she may not come home!” one personwrote in a tweet. Anothertweeted: “They want police to kill us. The girl was causing no harm. They know what happens when they call the police. This is evil.”
In the wake of the incident, at least six businesses have cut ties with Treatwell Health, according toThe San Diego Union-Tribune.
source: people.com
