Cvs Refused To Call 911 After Another Customer (m,20s,autistic) Punched My 4yo Daughter In The Face Unprovoked

I (39F) am beside myself. I can’t sleep and I keep replaying this over and over in my mind. My 4yo daughter spiked a fever today (Wed. 2/12/25) and was scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Thurs. 2/13/25) for ear tubes and to have her adenoids removed. We went to urgent care this afternoon and she tested positive for the flu. The NP prescribed Tamiflu, as an option in case starting Tamiflu would somehow mitigate risk and allow her surgery to proceed. (Sort of along the idea of 24hrs being on an antibiotic.) The Rx was sent to CVS in our town, but they were out of stock. I went to their drive thru and they said they transferred the Rx to another CVS about 3 miles away in another town. I called that CVS during the drive, but you can only leave a message with the pharmacy now, you can’t speak to a human. We arrive, their drive thru line is 7 cars deep. I didn’t trust the transfer because of what I could see in the app, so we got out of the drive thru line and went in the store with masks. I waited in line for 20min to be told I needed to wait in a different line (for an unattended window). I wait over there for another 15min before it’s my turn. Of course the first CVS never transferred the Rx as they said they would, so we have to wait for it to be filled. We go and pick out a Valentine’s Day card and walk back to the waiting area. I see the man, mid-late 20s, heavy set, sitting with a woman that appears to be his mother. I wasn’t paying close attention because I was distracted by my daughter but I see the man fidgeting around enough and his mom fussing with him that I can tell he is developmentally delayed. I follow my daughter over to a stuffed animal display, while his mother is called up to the register to check out. She had a few other store items in addition to her Rx. Her son stayed seated by himself at the waiting area about 10ft away from his mother/the register. Then I look up and see the seats are empty and we sit down. I was sort of avoiding him because he was making some noises and I basically didn’t want to deal with my daughter asking any questions about him loudly. Although up to that point, I don’t think she had even noticed him or his behavior she was more interested in the merchandise. She climbs up on my lap to sit facing forward, while my phone starts dinging with multiple Teams messages after business hours. I manage a team of six and a new software/application went live today, but I had to log off early/unexpectedly for the last minute dr appt. So I’m looking down at my phone, and out of my peripheral vision, I see the man approaching us at a normal speed. I thought he was going to sit back down in the empty seats next to us. A moment I’ll regret for the rest of my life, I avoided looking up because I didn’t want to make eye contact/engage him. And then very suddenly he’s directly in front of us and he punches MY FOUR YEAR OLD DAUGHTER in the face hitting her eye and eyebrow. I’m stunned, my daughter is screaming in pain and horror, and crying. The man walks back over to his mother she looks over and says nothing. Not to my daughter or me in apology or to him to discipline his behavior. I pause slightly because I understand he’s developmentally delayed and I want to extend some compassionate, but my immediate reaction is a verbal, “What the f#ck??!!! He just punched my daughter in the face??!!” There’s no doubt 10+ people, pharmacy staff and other waiting customers, witnessed this but literally no one says anything. His mother continues passing on her items at the register to pay. I move my daughter to sit the counter so I can examine her face. I try to comfort her and I look over at the guy/mother and I’m like this is not okay, she is FOUR YEARS OLD. His mother retorts, “Yeah and he’s 5.” Which I understand she means his mental capacity but he’s a big man, I’m guessing 5’7” 200lbs and he just punched my 36lb petite 4yo daughter in the face. And now I’m screaming, because her retort sends me into a blind rage. She says something about I don’t know what her life is like— I agree, I don’t and I can sympathize for her challenges but NOT WHEN A GROWN MAN JUST PUNCHED MY 4YO DAUGHTER IN THE FACE. She wasn’t speaking at all when it happened, so she didn’t say anything about him or to him. I’m not sure if she even looked at him. I have no idea what triggered him other than MAYBE we “stole” his seat?

I tell his mother again this isn’t okay, I don’t care what her life’s problems are, my daughter deserves an apology at a minimum from her if he won’t/can’t and she refuses. At this point I yell to the pharmacy staff, “can someone get our fucking Rx so we can get the fuck out of here??” The staff jumps to attention. I’m frantically bouncing back and forth between checking my daughter’s face, apologizing to her that this happened, hugging her and starting to cry myself because I failed to protect her. And then I’m thinking is my daughter hurt?? Like more than I can recognize as a non-medical person. And what message am I sending her if I just let these assholes leave with no repercussions or even a simple apology for assaulting her. (She’s recently been a punching bag at daycare for a kid that has very mild developmental delay.) So I just can’t let this go like it’s nothing. I asked the pharmacy staff to call 911. I had my cell phone but I was thinking I wanted the call to trace back to their address because I couldn’t even think straight. They ask the store assistant manager standing behind me. She says she will call and walked to the front of the store. As she’s walking away I’m telling her to make sure she saves the video surveillance and she says they will only do that at the police’s request. And I say, “right and I’ll be asking the police to get it. I’m not asking for it for myself.” But she has an unexplained attitude towards me. At some point during this exchange the man and his mother leave the store. No apology, just hostile words for me. I called my husband to briefly explain what happened and we’ll be home later than expected because I’m making a police report. I look to the pharmacy tech that checked out the mother and say remember that customer’s name. I’m not asking you for it, but the police will be. After 7+ minutes, the assistant manager strolls back over and says she talked to the store manager and they will not call 911 because this a customer/customer issue and they will not get involved. I’m flabbergasted. My daughter needs a medical evaluation, a crime just occurred witnessed by your staff who are all agreeing with me that the event happened and you won’t call for help for a customer?? WTF. So I call 911 myself. I think even the staff was offended because pharmacy tech who was checking me out walked over to the first aid section and got my daughter an ice pack and offered me a water, which was kind. Another pharmacy tech came from behind the counter to offer me a chair to sit in and moved it in front of the counter where my daughter was sitting. The police came, but the man who punched my daughter is long gone. EMTs check my daughter for a concussion and tell me signs to watch for (nausea, vomiting, etc, which is great when she was just diagnosed with the flu a few hours before). I’m saying the whole time how I feel bad even making the report knowing he’s not 100%, but at the same time I can’t do nothing. This is not okay, the lady has no control over her son and worse makes no apology for his violence. She became more aggressive towards me the longer the back and forth continued as if it was offensive I called attention to his actions. Like I should’ve just given him a free pass. He punched my daughter with a closed fist, with the full weight and strength of a grown man. The police are very encouraging towards me, they’re telling me I’m doing right by my daughter by making the report and that regardless of his mental status, it’s no excuse for assaulting a child, etc. They say maybe some good will come out of it, maybe his mom is overburdened and they can offer some services to support her.

At some point, I can tell they’re ready for me to leave. I ask them if they need me to identify the guy on the video and they say it’s not necessary. They’re pretty sure the incident will speak for itself. And then I look around and realize the store manager won’t allow them to view the video until I’m gone. I’ve worked for a bank and personally have downloaded video surveillance for many legal requests, customer issues, etc. I understand the complexity of privacy, but again, I was made to feel by the store manager as if I was in the wrong/no longer welcome in the store.

A few hours later, I get a call from the reporting officer. They’ve identified the man who assaulted my daughter. They went to his home and spoke with his parents, who indicated he is a nonverbal autistic man. He tells me that they’ve already lawyered up, but that he’s supposed to go to the police station tomorrow with his lawyer to make a statement (although they’re not sure what that will be given his nonverbal status). Again, I start to balk and say I don’t want to make his life or his parent’s lives more difficult. I’m not even sure what I want out of this, other than just like: THIS ISN’T OKAY!! He says this is the right thing to do and said something that left me with the impression that charges are moving forward with or without our interest. I started to pick up a vibe that this man is known to police.

I don’t even know what I want out of this long rambling post other than:

Do I need a lawyer for anything? To serve my daughter’s interests? No, right? Because the DA’s office will handle all that. JFC, I graduated with a CJ degree 15ish years ago, but this whole thing has completely fucked my head up so I can’t think straight.

Can I or should I go after CVS for their shitty no 911 policy??? I’d like to blast them on social media like there’s no tomorrow, but I keep a pretty low profile on social media (mostly a lurker) and I especially don’t like exposing my kids.

Literally in the Top 5, maybe even Top 3, worst days of my life. All that to end up having the surgery canceled anyways, Tamiflu wouldn’t help her case. And two RNs in my family said don’t bother giving the Tamiflu because the side effects are worse in kids than the actual flu symptoms. So I spent $20.66 and wasted hours of my life for an Rx we’ll never use.