New York – ‘Shoplifter’ Dies As Supermarket Employees ‘Sit On Him’

A suspected shoplifter died whilst being held by three supermarket employees in a local Stop and Shop in Brooklyn, New York over the weekend.

At the Stop and Shop on Flatbush Avenue, three supermarket employees stated they caught a shoplifter red-handed on Saturday and in order to keep him detained until the police arrived, the threesome decided to ‘sit on him’.

Mr. Antwaune Savage, 31-years-old, declared to police afterward that he watched in shock as the three workers hurled the 51-year-old shoplifter known only as Gerard (known to locals by his street name “Star”) to the ground. They held him down although the man declared he had a bad heart and couldn’t breathe, according to Mr. Savage. “They were on top of him. Literally standing on top of him. Stepping on him to hold him down.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A homeless man died in Brooklyn Saturday after getting into a struggle with Stop &amp; Shop employees who accused him of stealing food, police say. <a href="https://t.co/CYaYDnI9CV">https://t.co/CYaYDnI9CV</a></p>&mdash; NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNewYork/status/985413432265625600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2018</a></blockquote>

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According to the police report, the three supermarket employees confronted the man as he was about to leave the store and a struggle followed.

27-year-old Ms. Clintisha Lewis declared: “The store manager was on his head part. A female, the assistant manager, was on his belly part and a worker was on his legs. Those are three adults sitting on him.”

Stop & Shop later that same evening released a statement saying: "There was an incident at our Stop & Shop Flatbush Avenue store this morning involving a suspected shoplifter. New York City Police officers were immediately called to the store. We are working closely with the New York City Police Department to help them determine the facts and to provide any information we have to assist in their investigation."

Source:

http://abc7ny.com/investigation-into-death-of-alleged-shoplifter-after-altercation-with-store-employees/3345653/