2 Walmart Employees Arrested After Altercation With Customers: Police

NAUGATUCK, CT — Two employees of a Walmart store in Naugatuck were arrested Wednesday night after a customer was punched in the head by one of the employees, according to police.

In a news release, police said officers were called to a Walmart store on New Haven Road around 7 p.m. after receiving a report of several people physically fighting.

Officers learned two customers, one of them a person with a disability who was using an electric scooter, were shopping for clothing and needed assistance, according to police.

One of the customers asked an employee, Shelly Alam, 45, of Waterbury, for help, police said.

According to police, Alam "responded in a manner in which a verbal altercation between the two took place and then escalated."

Alam is also accused of ridiculing the customer with a disability, police said.

When one of the customers requested to speak with the store manager, another employee, Robert Mclaughlin, 39, of Waterbury, approached one of the customers and punched them in the head, resulting in a minor injury, police said.

Alam was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit third-degree assault, risk of injury to a child and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest.

Mclaughlin was arrested and charged with third-degree assault, risk of injury to a child and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest.

Both were later released on a $5,000 surety bond and are scheduled to appear in court next month, according to police.