A couple hundred million people shop at Wal-Mart stores every year,so its no big deal that every once in a while someone gets killedthere for shoplifting. Shoplifting is not a capital offense --except sometimes at Wal-Mart. When encounters with the retailer's"Asset Protection" staff goes too far -- death can result. In August, 2005, 30-year-old Stacy Driver , of Cleveland, Ohio, a master carpenter and the father of atwo-year-old son, died from a heart attack while lying face down ina Wal-Mart parking lot in Houston, Texas.
Driver was pinned down on the burning hot pavement by severalWal-Mart workers who accused him of shoplifting a package ofdiapers, a pair of sunglasses, a BB gun, and a package of BBs."When we got there," a paramedic said, "the man was facedown (incardiac arrest) with handcuffs behind his back. That's notindicative of someone given CPR." Four Wal-Mart associates chasedDriver, who was shirtless at the time, wrestled him to the groundand struggled with him on the hot pavement for 10 to 30 minutes,witnesses said. A Houston lawyer who witnessed the event, told the Houston Chronicle that one of the Wal-Mart employees had Driver in a choke hold asother employees pinned his body to the ground. "He was begging,'Please, I'm burning, let me up,'" Another employee brought a rugfor Driver to lie on, but one of those holding Driver said he wasfine where he was.
"After about five minutes, (Driver) said, 'I'mdying, I can't breathe, call an ambulance,'" the eyewitness lawyercontinued. After Driver was handcuffed, the eyewitness said oneemployee had his knee on the man's neck and others were puttingpressure on his back. Stacy Driver eventually stopped moving. Most likely as a result of the Driver case, Wal-Mart updated itsLoss Prevention (now called "Asset Protection") Associate Guide , which now instructs employees to "PUT PEOPLE FIRST. Leather Dice Cup
Protectingthe physical well-being of suspects, customers and Wal-MartAssociates is your first priority." Then the Guide adds: "If at anypoint the Suspect or any other involved person becomes violent,disengage from the confrontation, withdraw to a safe position, andcontact law enforcement. If at any point the Suspect or any otherinvolved person exerts physical resistance, determine whether yournext reasonable step is to disengage from the confrontation, ormove to an authorized detention method. Associates may only defendthemselves or others to the extent necessary to disengage theSuspect and to withdraw from the situation. After disengagement,Associates should contact law enforcement." Wal-Mart policy is that suspects can only be detained "in areasonable manner, for a reasonable period of time. Employees areinstructed to "utilize good judgment in determining whetherdetention is authorized and the manner in which to proceed.Remember: protecting the physical well-being of Suspects, customersand Walmart Associates is your first priority." But Wal-Mart allows its Asset Protection staff to "use reasonableforce to physically limit or control the movements of a Suspect."The policy notes: "Only the least amount of force necessary toaffect the detention under the circumstances may be utilized." TheGuide says: "If restraint is attempted and the Suspect cannot becontrolled with a reasonable level of force, disengage from thesituation, withdraw to a safe position, and contact lawenforcement." Wal-Mart workers are told to "always honor a suspect's request formedical attention," and on the list of "prohibited techniques"employees are warned "never place a Suspect in a prone positionunless you are unable to safely disengage from an encounter andneed to do so to prevent the Suspect from committing a violent act.A Suspect in a prone position should be constantly monitored andmoved to a sitting or standing position as soon as reasonablypossible." Stacy Driver was not only physically assaulted, but died lyingprone in Wal-Mart's parking lot. China Champagne Ice Buckets
All over some BBs and a pair ofsun glasses. Two years later, Wal-Mart paid Driver's family$750,000 in a settlement of the family's wrongful death lawsuit. In December, 2009, a 38-year-old suspected shoplifter named Marty Bridges was fleeing a Wal-Mart store when security staff working forWal-Mart grabbed him, and a fight broke out. By the time theDunwoody, Georgia police arrived on the scene, Bridges was on theground, and bystanders were trying to give him CPR. The suspect wastaken to nearby Northside hospital, where he was officiallypronounced dead. Personalized Serving Tray
The Dunwoody police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the unspecified items Bridges was accused of stealing wereless than $300 in value, and would have resulted in a misdemeanorcharge. "It was basically a big pile-up," a Dunwoody police spokesman toldthe newspaper. "They had him pinned on the ground to keep him fromrunning." According to one report, store officials had contactedthe police saying that a man had been seen stuffing his shirt withstore items. Yet as he lay dying in the parking lot, no items werefound on his person.
Last week, another alleged shoplifter died in a Wal-Mart parkinglot in Covina, California . Jose Marcos Picazo, 41, of Azusa, California reportedly left theWal-Mart store without paying for merchandise and was followed outinto the parking lot by Wal-Mart Asset Protection employees. "They went outside to detain him, and basically, the fight was on,"the police department said. "He resisted them and they beganfighting.
They were able to get him down on the ground and that'swhen the Covina police officers arrived." The Los Angeles County coroner's office said Picazo "becameunresponsive" while under the control of Wal-Mart employees, andwas pronounced dead at the local hospital in Covina. An autopsy hasbeen performed to determine the cause of death. The Covina copstold the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that by the time they arrived the "suspect appeared to be inmedical distress." Picazo was accused of stealing some clothes andbody wash. Wal-Mart Loss Prevention staff must have lost their copy of thecompany's Loss Prevention Associates Guide.
"We just can't haveassociates trying to take matters into their own hands," a Wal-Mart spokesman has said. It's time for Wal-Mart to follow its own manual and "disengage andwithdraw" from these parking lot confrontations. Stacy Driver,Marty Bridges, and Jose Picazo are all dead because Wal-Mart stillhasn't figured out that people's lives are more valuable than theircheap Chinese "assets." Al Norman is the founder of Sprawl-Busters . He has been helping activists fight big box stores for nearly twodecades.
His latest book is Occupy Walmart.
Driver was pinned down on the burning hot pavement by severalWal-Mart workers who accused him of shoplifting a package ofdiapers, a pair of sunglasses, a BB gun, and a package of BBs."When we got there," a paramedic said, "the man was facedown (incardiac arrest) with handcuffs behind his back. That's notindicative of someone given CPR." Four Wal-Mart associates chasedDriver, who was shirtless at the time, wrestled him to the groundand struggled with him on the hot pavement for 10 to 30 minutes,witnesses said. A Houston lawyer who witnessed the event, told the Houston Chronicle that one of the Wal-Mart employees had Driver in a choke hold asother employees pinned his body to the ground. "He was begging,'Please, I'm burning, let me up,'" Another employee brought a rugfor Driver to lie on, but one of those holding Driver said he wasfine where he was.
"After about five minutes, (Driver) said, 'I'mdying, I can't breathe, call an ambulance,'" the eyewitness lawyercontinued. After Driver was handcuffed, the eyewitness said oneemployee had his knee on the man's neck and others were puttingpressure on his back. Stacy Driver eventually stopped moving. Most likely as a result of the Driver case, Wal-Mart updated itsLoss Prevention (now called "Asset Protection") Associate Guide , which now instructs employees to "PUT PEOPLE FIRST. Leather Dice Cup
Protectingthe physical well-being of suspects, customers and Wal-MartAssociates is your first priority." Then the Guide adds: "If at anypoint the Suspect or any other involved person becomes violent,disengage from the confrontation, withdraw to a safe position, andcontact law enforcement. If at any point the Suspect or any otherinvolved person exerts physical resistance, determine whether yournext reasonable step is to disengage from the confrontation, ormove to an authorized detention method. Associates may only defendthemselves or others to the extent necessary to disengage theSuspect and to withdraw from the situation. After disengagement,Associates should contact law enforcement." Wal-Mart policy is that suspects can only be detained "in areasonable manner, for a reasonable period of time. Employees areinstructed to "utilize good judgment in determining whetherdetention is authorized and the manner in which to proceed.Remember: protecting the physical well-being of Suspects, customersand Walmart Associates is your first priority." But Wal-Mart allows its Asset Protection staff to "use reasonableforce to physically limit or control the movements of a Suspect."The policy notes: "Only the least amount of force necessary toaffect the detention under the circumstances may be utilized." TheGuide says: "If restraint is attempted and the Suspect cannot becontrolled with a reasonable level of force, disengage from thesituation, withdraw to a safe position, and contact lawenforcement." Wal-Mart workers are told to "always honor a suspect's request formedical attention," and on the list of "prohibited techniques"employees are warned "never place a Suspect in a prone positionunless you are unable to safely disengage from an encounter andneed to do so to prevent the Suspect from committing a violent act.A Suspect in a prone position should be constantly monitored andmoved to a sitting or standing position as soon as reasonablypossible." Stacy Driver was not only physically assaulted, but died lyingprone in Wal-Mart's parking lot. China Champagne Ice Buckets
All over some BBs and a pair ofsun glasses. Two years later, Wal-Mart paid Driver's family$750,000 in a settlement of the family's wrongful death lawsuit. In December, 2009, a 38-year-old suspected shoplifter named Marty Bridges was fleeing a Wal-Mart store when security staff working forWal-Mart grabbed him, and a fight broke out. By the time theDunwoody, Georgia police arrived on the scene, Bridges was on theground, and bystanders were trying to give him CPR. The suspect wastaken to nearby Northside hospital, where he was officiallypronounced dead. Personalized Serving Tray
The Dunwoody police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the unspecified items Bridges was accused of stealing wereless than $300 in value, and would have resulted in a misdemeanorcharge. "It was basically a big pile-up," a Dunwoody police spokesman toldthe newspaper. "They had him pinned on the ground to keep him fromrunning." According to one report, store officials had contactedthe police saying that a man had been seen stuffing his shirt withstore items. Yet as he lay dying in the parking lot, no items werefound on his person.
Last week, another alleged shoplifter died in a Wal-Mart parkinglot in Covina, California . Jose Marcos Picazo, 41, of Azusa, California reportedly left theWal-Mart store without paying for merchandise and was followed outinto the parking lot by Wal-Mart Asset Protection employees. "They went outside to detain him, and basically, the fight was on,"the police department said. "He resisted them and they beganfighting.
They were able to get him down on the ground and that'swhen the Covina police officers arrived." The Los Angeles County coroner's office said Picazo "becameunresponsive" while under the control of Wal-Mart employees, andwas pronounced dead at the local hospital in Covina. An autopsy hasbeen performed to determine the cause of death. The Covina copstold the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that by the time they arrived the "suspect appeared to be inmedical distress." Picazo was accused of stealing some clothes andbody wash. Wal-Mart Loss Prevention staff must have lost their copy of thecompany's Loss Prevention Associates Guide.
"We just can't haveassociates trying to take matters into their own hands," a Wal-Mart spokesman has said. It's time for Wal-Mart to follow its own manual and "disengage andwithdraw" from these parking lot confrontations. Stacy Driver,Marty Bridges, and Jose Picazo are all dead because Wal-Mart stillhasn't figured out that people's lives are more valuable than theircheap Chinese "assets." Al Norman is the founder of Sprawl-Busters . He has been helping activists fight big box stores for nearly twodecades.
His latest book is Occupy Walmart.