A New Jersey mother said her 3-year-old daughter accidentally knocked over a marble table worth almost $1,600 at an Ocean County café over the weekend. She claimed she “wasn’t allowed to leave” until she gave her driver’s license and credit card information.
“I was completely humiliated and embarrassed,” Kathy Denman said in a viral TikTok posted after the incident on Sunday. “I’ve cried since.”
Denman explained in the video that her daughter, Allie, pushed over the table at the Hazelnut Cafe in Lavallette while waiting for her mom to pay for coffee and ice cream.
Surveillance footage of the incident, shared with NJ Advance Media, shows Allie hitting the table with her foot, causing it to crash to the ground.
Two other customers in the crowded café helped lift the table, while some pieces from underneath remained on the floor.
No one was hurt, but Allie was “frozen and scared and nervous,” Denman said. “And everybody’s reaction definitely didn’t help.”
Denman added that she spoke with one of the café’s owners on the phone, who kept saying, “‘Our policy is: You break it, you pay for it.’” She stayed in the café for about 20 more minutes.
The Hazelnut Café is part of Hazel Boutique, a clothing and home decor brand with four locations in New Jersey. It is run by twin sisters Kimberly and Jenna Campfield. In a statement to NJ Advance Media, they said they were “extremely grateful” that everyone was safe.
“Following the incident, we personally called the child’s mother to express our concern, offer our support, and share our direct contact information should she need anything,” they said.
They also denied that Denman had been stopped from leaving the café.
“We also want to be completely transparent: we would never hold anyone against their will,” they said. “The mother was not charged for the damaged table, even after asking how she could make it right given the table broke. We requested her contact information for insurance purposes.”
It was unclear if Denman gave her credit card information, either willingly or not.
In a short phone call on Tuesday, Denman said her family was doing well.
“We’re good,” she said, adding that they were leaving the Shore and heading home to Pompton Plains later that day. She didn’t respond to later calls for comment. On Thursday, she posted a written statement on TikTok saying the Campfields had apologized “for how our family was treated.”
Denman said her family accepted the apology and wanted “to move forward peacefully” without further comments.
The TikTok video had over 10 million views by the time her statement was posted.
Online users quickly identified the table, an Anthropologie console listed at $1,598, and a now-deleted café video that seemed to show it tipping when people leaned on it.
Denman said the table weighed “600 pounds.” After NJ Advance Media reached out, Anthropologie updated its listing to show it weighed 109.25 pounds. A company spokesperson did not answer questions about whether the table was meant for dining use.
The Campfields said they “have since removed all tables from our locations to eliminate any risk of a similar incident.”
