Los Angeles, California (CNN) — An alarm sounded when Alejandro Rea walked out of a Hollywood Boulevard clothing store earlier this month, signaling that he may be leaving with merchandise he didn’t pay for.
Rea is deaf, so he didn’t hear the alarm or the shouts from a security guard ordering him to stop. The 28-year-old kept walking out of the Forever 21 until he was tackled and placed in a choke-hold by the guard.
Pablo Rea, also hearing-impaired as are other members of the family, said it was frustrating watching the guard wrestle his brother for several minutes.
“I can see my brother saying he couldn’t communicate,” Pablo Rea said Thursday, speaking through an interpreter. “It was like an immediate attack and my brother went limp and then he got in a choke-hold and became purple.”
Rea’s lawyer, John Henrichs, is threatening to sue the store for using excessive force and causing injuries to Rea, something Forever 21 acknowledged in a statement.
“We recognize that the security guard used excessive force, which is against our store policy and have suspended him indefinitely,” the store said in a news release.
Found by Jay.
Guy looks more like a bouncer than a “security guard.” I guess the distinction doesn’t really matter.
Just awful and sickening. I can only hope the lawsuit settlement (and it will be settled) is is HUGE.
Thank goodness this shithole mall cop didn’t have a taser nor that a city cop showed up to do that.
OK. Should have grabbed him instead. One totally, (purposely) answered question:
Was the guy stealing anything?
At what point does this be come the crime of assault? Since this “guard” isn’t cop at least there is a chance he will get “justice”.
#3 – According to the article, the guy has been charged with robbery, so must have had something.
Most stores will prosecute all shoplifters, regardless of expense. In this case, the charge was bumped up the robbery because of the “assault”.
#6 You must be republican. You can’t separate the petty crime from the brutal assault.
Maybe if it was a white 80 years old woman who happened to be your grandmother would your sick rationalization change.
“I can see my brother saying he couldn’t communicate,” Pablo Rea said Thursday.
WTF? Oh, it’s in LA. He must be “undocumented”.
AKA fair game.
For all the morons who already decided the this was a shop lifting, how many times have you walked out of a store and the alarm went off even though you paid?
As well, this is a clear use of excessive force due to inexpericnce. And the second guard did not even try to communicate with the second person who was trying to indicate that they are deaf.
Disgusting
Guard should be charged with assault, shoplifter should go to prison (extensive prior record and unpaid for goods in shopping bag during incident)
Silly people–don’t you know it is OK to shoplift as long as you’re deaf?
Latino is the new ni**er so it’s no surpring the violent attitude of the security guards.
the one great thing i learned about working in retail is you can steal annnnnything as long as a cops not right there and get away scott free. if anyone from the store touches you at all, even if you are stealing, they can be arrested. also if they call the cops, it take an average of 5-15 minutes for them to show up. how far can you walk from a store in 5 minutes? if someone trys to stop you from leaving the store, just keep walking and if they touch you, sew away. god bless america (i was robbed almost every other night working in a blockbuster by the projects, people would walk in, filla bag with new dvds and walk out) sops asked me what they stole. id laugh and say a-z
#9 “how many times have you walked out of a store and the alarm went off even though you paid?”
I thought the same thing before I watched the video as it stated that he was deaf and probably did not hear the bells. While I usually defend most police/security personnel in tense situations, I did not feel that the security guard had to immobilize him that long to assess the situation. Second, the man in the suit should be ridiculed just as much as he was in a less physical confrontation and did not use his brain to help.
I know as a father of a special needs child that typical people misunderstand facial expressions, speech patterns,hand gestures, etc. and can lead to hurt feelings or physical contact.
#12
Race isn’t an issue here unless you are a racist.
Big guy leaving store without paying for items, refuses to stop or respond to verbal commands. Too bad the tape starts after the very first contact. Was he “agressive” at all even if just misunderstood because he was deaf or was the guard rough from the get go?
Absent more facts, I’m willing to say that people shoplifting have the burden of proof to show anything else was excessive.
#9 “how many times have you walked out of a store and the alarm went off even though you paid?”
All the time. So a 300-pound guy chokes a deaf guy who weighs all of 150. Looks like assault to me.
These asshole ‘security’ officers deserve to be banished from society.
And shame on the people standing around watching & not doing anything. There are way more of you then them. The sheepishness of our citizens is embarassing.
What’s worse, more and more states are passing laws making it a felony if you film a “peace” officer. Yet this kind of abuse is escalating.
To serve and protect…right!!!
So was the guy stealing???
And the guard sucks, it took him forever to get mount. Once the guard is sitting on top the ‘thief’ calms and looks like he has less pain.
If the guard is going to be a thug at least he could do his thugging with a bit less pain inflicted.
But if the guy really did steal then screw him… (I promise I am not discriminating, thats my sharia stance for all thieves).