Woman 'wants an apology' after man caught on video snatching wig from her head in Midtown
MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman is demanding an apology after video captured the moment a man randomly yanked the wig off her head on the streets of Manhattan.
"For what reason? What made you think you could take my wig off? What made you think that was the good thing to do," singer Lizzy Ashleigh said. "What he gave to me was definitely violence, definitely disrespect. So, he devalued me, he took my confidence away in that moment."
But whatever confidence may have taken a shot temporarily, Ashleigh got it back millions of times over.
It comes after a viral video showed a total stranger pulling a wig off of her head.
"It was three people walking and then Anthony just grabs my hair back, like literally right here in this moment, and that's where I pulled my camera out on the corner," she said.
The Brownsville native is a singer. Her colored hair is part of her signature style.
In exclusive surveillance video obtained by Eyewitness News, you can see Ashleigh walking down Sixth Avenue towards West 34th Street. Just before she slips out of frame, her head is seen jerking backwards.
"So, he's pulling my neck back and I'm like whoa," Ashleigh said. "And I literally turn around and I get aggressive and I'm like whoa, what did you do that for?"
In the video, you can see the 29-year-old singer confronting the suspect in the surveillance, as he kept walking down the street.
"I just kept hoping and wishing that he would say something," Ashleigh said. "If you notice he only answered to his friend."
Even though she recorded the video on her cell phone, she didn't know who the suspect was until she was contacted by another user on TikTok.
"He gave a headshot photo from the internet photo and said this is the company that he works for," Ashleigh said.
The headshot is of an attorney. The photo is no longer on his firm's website after he was fired over the viral video.
The firm issued a statement saying, "We take seriously any inappropriate behavior by any employee, whether inside or outside the workplace."
The firm says the associate has been fired.
The suspect is also facing assault charges.
"Honestly, I want an apology," Ashleigh said. "I want him to know, you don't go down the street interacting with strangers, pulling their hair assaulting people, in general, you don't do that."
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