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Firebombing inside a Detroit party store caught on video

Posted at 3:34 PM, Aug 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-04 16:14:14-04

A fire destroys the inside of a party store.

Employees tell us they've been receiving threats after a woman says she was beaten in Chalmers Plus Liquor Store.

The store owner says an employee was acting in self defense and have now released surveillance video.

This after a week of accusations they say are not true.

Pauletta Jones says she was beaten after being accused of stealing a beer bottle Monday.

Community activists held a press conference earlier this week.

By Friday morning, the owners of Chalmers Plus say their business was destroyed after being firebombed.

On Thursday, a manager's car was also set on fire.

"He told me 'somebody burned my car,'" owner Rose Yaldo explained. "He has been having threatening calls, private, 'you'll never see your babies, we are going to burn you down.' And that's what happened."

Employees tell us it could take at least a year to reopen the store.

The store owners released the video defending their employee telling us the woman was drunk, stealing and when the employee confronted her, she bit his hand.

They say he hit her in self defense.

In the video you can see Pauletta Jones stumbling and putting a bottle in a bag and attempting to walk out.

Pauletta denies all accusations and has been advised by her lawyer not to talk to the media, but she had an emotional reaction to the video.

She said, "I really don't see anything in this video that's saying, that I should have been attacked like this."

Community activist Tia Stevens explained, "No matter what did or did not happen, allegedly, there is no way and there is no reason for somebody to take matters to their own hands and savagely be attacking that women the way that she did. Beating her repeatedly with a beer bottle."

Police are investigating the incident inside the store and the car and store fires.

The owners of Chalmers Plus say they've been attacked because of Pauletta's accusations, but Tia disagrees

"I don't think the community has anything to do with this at all," she added.

Police are investigating.