A shopper loads bags into a car in the parking lot of the Walmart Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Lithonia, Ga., where the day before a shoplifting suspect died after a confrontation with store employees. DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said Monday the man had not been identified and police hadn't decided whether to file any charges in the Sunday incident. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Vidal Calloway, 37, died Sunday after he was taken down in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Lithonia and put into a choke hold by a security guard as the employees waited on authorities, according to a police report. Store workers accused Calloway, an ex-convict, of trying to steal two Blu-ray players, which also play DVDs.
"I don't think that it should've happened," Calloway's wife Fatimah Calloway said. "He didn't deserve to die over a DVD player."
About 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a store manager asked Calloway for a receipt near the door and he ran out of the store, according to the police report. The manager, Michael Burton, grabbed Calloway and slammed him down to the ground, but Calloway fought back, punching Burton in the face, neck and chest, according to the police report. The security guard, Jaiviere Pruitt, rushed Calloway and the three men fell to the ground. Pruitt put Calloway into a headlock because he was still fighting, police said.
The guard "told the suspect to tap when he can't breathe," store employee Phille Roberts, who also helped hold Calloway down, told officers, according to the police report.
Emergency medics tried to treat Calloway, but he was unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Detectives were awaiting autopsy results to determine exactly how Calloway died.
Burton and Roberts have been suspended with pay and Pruitt, a contractor working security with the store, will no longer work there, according to Bentonville, Ark.,-based Wal-Mart Inc.
"Associates are trained to disengage from situations that would put themselves or others at risk," Wal-Mart Inc. spokeswoman Dianna Gee said. "That being said, this is still an active investigation and we're working with police to provide any assistance."
Calloway had a criminal record that includes shoplifting, forgery and substance abuse.
Burton and Pruitt did not return telephone calls. A phone number for Roberts could not be immediately located.
I'm sure his mother will be along shortly to tell us all how he just "fell in with the wrong crowd".
As far as the writer, is it really necessary to state that the Blu-Ray Player also plays DVD's? That was so unnecessary to the story...Was the writer an advertising executive, who just had to put a plug in there? Just saying......
It's called excessive force and law enforcement officers are trained to avoid it. They are also subject to liability if they use excessive force.
The man may have had a heart condition or some other condition that made it dangerous for him to exert himself. The employees are under no obligation; moral or otherwise to assess whether that is the case when someone willingly places them-self in a situation where a confrontation is almost guaranteed.
I must respectfully disagree with those of you blaming Walmart. the employees did no wrong. The thief did wrong and paid for it with his life. Actions have consequences. What an unnecessary tragedy the thief has caused. His family is on my prayer list.
This isn't a political issue. This is about common sense.
The death penalty isn't the normal consequence for shoplifting even an expensive item. These Wal-Mart folks overreacted. And it is likely to cost WM some money. As it should.
A tragedy all around.
Republicans will plead, "This life-long criminal got just what he deserved. His own personal choices and decisions ended up getting him accidentally killed. He was a victim of his own poor judgment. How many other times had this guy robbed others and never gotten caught doing it? While this incident is tragic in how it ended, when someone CHOOSES to rob others, always expect the worse, as well as the consequences that might have to be paid."
Which one, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, is the correct view?