ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Ring camera video that surfaced last weekend is raising serious concerns about child safety after it appears to show an Instacart delivery worker chasing down a young child and striking him in the face.
The video, captured by a customer’s Ring camera during a delivery in St. Augustine, shows a woman appearing to chase a child who looks to be approximately 5 or 6 years old before striking him in the face. The child can also be heard being verbally berated in the footage.
The Ring camera owner, who posted the video on social media, said the child had been carrying groceries described as too heavy for him when the incident occurred.
The woman can also be heard on the video making derogatory statements toward the child.
The Ring camera owner said he called police to file a child abuse report and urged the public to help identify the woman.
Since it was posted, the video has been shared more than a thousand times with hundreds of comments with people expressing their outrage.
News4JAX reached out to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office about the video, in addition to Instacart and the Department of Children and Families.
Instacart released a statement, saying:
“The behavior captured in this video is alarming and completely unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for violence of any kind, and the shopper has been permanently removed from the platform. Instacart maintains strict policies prohibiting shoppers from bringing any individual without a valid shopper account on a delivery, including children. We take situations like this extremely seriously and will fully cooperate with law enforcement and the relevant authorities as they conduct their investigation.”