Ohio woman jailed for attacking elderly Asian store owners; bond set at $75,000
Police say Ebony Afzal, 25, attacked a Cleveland-area couple in their 60s after her prepaid card was declined for an $11.85 purchase, leaving the female owner unconscious.
A 25-year-old Ohio woman, Ebony Afzal, was jailed with bond set at $75,000 after she was accused of attacking the elderly owners of Chic Beauty Supply on Lorain Road in the Cleveland area, according to reporting on the case. The confrontation was captured on the store's surveillance camera.
The dispute began when Afzal tried to pay for several items totaling $11.85 with a prepaid debit card, which was declined at checkout. The store owners, both in their 60s, explained that her account did not have any money -- "her account didn't have any money," the owners' son, identified as David Jo, said of the reason the card was declined.
In the video, Afzal is seen attacking the couple and destroying items on display, per the available reporting. The female owner was left unconscious. The owners immigrated from South Korea roughly 25 years earlier and had been running the store for five years.
The charge and bond
Afzal was charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and was held in Cuyahoga County Jail. Bond was set at $75,000, an amount reportedly influenced by the judge's consideration of a prior assault charge against her. As a condition, she was ordered to have no contact with the victims if released.
From arrest to indictment
Afzal was arrested July 28, five days after the July 23 attack, according to a separate News 5 Cleveland report on her indictment. A grand jury indicted her on the felonious assault and misdemeanor assault charges, with an arraignment scheduled for August 16, per that report.
Not guilty plea and next court date
Afzal later appeared in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and pleaded not guilty to felonious assault and a first-degree misdemeanor assault charge following the indictment, according to News 5 Cleveland. Her $75,000 cash surety bond was continued, with the no-contact condition remaining in place if she posted it. A pre-trial hearing was scheduled for August 24 before Judge Joseph Russo, per News 5 Cleveland's reporting.
The store owners' son, David Jo, told News 5 Cleveland that his parents "were left bruised and bloodied, but seem to be physically okay" after the attack, and said he believed Afzal targeted his elderly parents specifically because she "could overpower" them.
I just saw my mom today since it happened and she's all bruised up, her hair's been pulled out, she has bruises all over her body… My dad's mouth was all bloodied up.
Jo said he did not learn of the attack until the following Monday morning, when his brother sent him a video clip of the surveillance footage. "Watching your parents get thrust around and dragged around the store they worked so hard for… I couldn't finish watching the video obviously," he told News 5 Cleveland.
What remains unconfirmed
The retrieved reporting does not specify the ultimate disposition of the case beyond the not-guilty plea and scheduled pre-trial hearing -- whether Afzal was later convicted, took a plea deal, or had charges reduced -- nor does it detail the extent of the owners' injuries beyond bruising, lacerations and the female owner losing consciousness.
US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by Yahoo News and News 5 Cleveland. It restores a story originally published on this site in 2021; figures are as reported at the time.