An Alabama hair salon owner and two of her stylists are behind bars for allegedly kidnapping and assaulting one of their clients over a dispute about the cost of their braiding services.
The arrests stem from a now-viral video that shows a salon owner grab a client’s newly installed braids and refusing to let go until she pays $250.
Jessica Odom took to TikTok to recount what happened when she got her hair braided at a Birmingham salon called Mama Gifted Hands.
In her video, she posted screenshots of texts she exchanged with the salon owner that day in which she booked a same-day hair appointment for boho knotless braids. The owner tells her the starting price for braids is $200 and could cost more depending on length and other factors.
Odom said when she arrived, she was initially impressed by the hospitality and customer service, but by the end, her salon experience was completely marred by a fiery argument that broke out after she paid $200 cash for the service.
Odom recorded video showing the owner refusing to let her leave the salon until she paid an additional fee. The footage shows the owner and one of her stylists holding onto Odom’s braids in an effort to detain her.
Odom argued that the owner confirmed the $200 price point in their text exchange. Still, the owner demanded extra fees for the human hair her stylist installed, which Odom never requested.
“I got locked in the building and I was told that I could not leave and that the service I received was actually $250,” Odom said. “When I tried to leave, I was pushed back in, and my hair was pulled. They pulled out my real hair while doing this.”
Odom told WVTM that the salon owner offered to accept an additional $30 instead of $50, but if Odoms couldn’t pay the surcharge, she would order the stylists to cut the human hair out.
Odom said she was locked inside the building for nearly 40 minutes until police showed up.
The viral video shows the owner accusing Odom of assault, but when police arrived and reviewed the salon’s surveillance video, none of the footage corroborated the owner’s claims.
Birmingham police arrested 32-year-old Aissatou Camara, 30-year-old Julia Ondo, and 45-year-old Gwadys Audrey Nzinga Koumba on Nov. 21, nearly a week after the incident took place.
All three women were charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault. Jail records show that Camara and Ondo, who are employees, are currently in jail being held on $500 bond, according to AL.com.
A similar incident happened in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April, where a hairstylist attempted to chop off an 11-year-old girl’s braids after the child’s mother refused to pay a late fee. The stylist was fired from her job.
