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Woman Gets 4 Months For Assaulting Nordstrom Rack Customer Who Told Her To Calm Down Her Kid

REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A San Francisco woman was sent to jail Tuesday for assaulting another woman who told her to quiet her crying nephew down inside a Nordstrom Rack store in Colma last November, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Terrie Vaiasaga Elzie, 28, was sentenced by San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Leland Davis to four months in jail Tuesday morning and was remanded into custody. Once her jail term is complete, she will be on probation for three years, Wagstaffe said.

Elzie will also have to complete an anger management course, Wagstaffe said.

She pleaded no contest in June to felony assault on the condition that she get no more than six months in jail for the Nov. 3 attack.

Elzie was shopping with her nephew that day when she took a toy from him as they were getting ready to leave. The child started crying and another woman told Elzie to quiet him down.

Elzie told the woman to mind her own business, and the woman told her to "go to Hell," according to prosecutors.

The two exchanged words and Elzie told her she would meet her outside and waited for her, prosecutors said.

When the woman left the store, Elzie punched her twice in the mouth, pushed her to the ground and sat on her. The woman's mouth was left bloody and the bones of her gum line were fractured. She needed several root canals to repair the damage, prosecutors said.

The assault was captured on video surveillance, according to the district attorney's office.

Elzie's defense attorney, William Johnston, said after her no contest plea that he expected she wouldn't have to serve jail time since she had no criminal history.

Elzie was mainly angry that the woman had used foul language and the child repeated it back. She hadn't intended to fight her, but the situation got out of hand, Johnston said.

© Copyright 2015 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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