I went grocery shopping after work today. I was sitting outside the store at about 3:20pm waiting for a Taxi Cab. The next thing I know I see some guy accosting a woman. He was in a black T-Shirt and jeans with several earrings in his ear and a few tattoos.
He was pushing and shoving her around. Grabbing her clothing, and at one point it looked like he was behind her trying to push her to the ground. There was another girl there and she was pulling him and yelling "Get off of her!", but he reached behind and pushed her away.
Then he grabbed the girl he was all over by the back of the neck and literally threw her head first down into the concrete! I heard a loud crack, which could only have been made from her head hitting the pavement
I saw a bunch of people, including guys standing there just watching like it was some circus side show!
I dropped my purse and my bags and ran over to help that girl. I thought her boy friend was beating her up.
I ran over and yelled at him to leave her alone. He told me to mind my own business.
I walked right up to him, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled and told him to leave her the bleep alone. I was fully prepared to give him a punch to the kidneys if needed.
Now in the mean time she had tried to get up but he once again grabbed her by the back of the neck and threw her head first into the concrete with heavy force. She stopped her head from hitting the pavement by putting her arm out so she hit the concrete with her forearm instead, followed by her face.
I went running into the store yelling at the top of my lungs for someone to call 911 because someone was getting beaten up outside.
I came back outside and now they were in the parking lot. There was another guy standing there beside them watching and then he joined in. So now there were 2 of them all over this one woman. I had come out of the store just in time to see him throw her down head first into the pavement again. I yelled at him that the police have been called. He said "I am the police!"
At that point he was kneeling on her and trying to bend her arm behind her. I saw that he had a pair of handcuffs in his hand that he was trying to put on her. Her left arm was in such an awkward position that it looked like it might have been dislocated.
Apparently he was under cover store security and he saw her shopping lifting a deli salad and was trying to apprehend her.
IMO he was using excessive force. She was inebriated and staggering, she didn't have a gun or a knife or any other type of weapon and she was about 70 pounds lighter than he was. I told him that he was using excessive force and that he had no right be throwing her head first into the concrete like he had been, even if she did shoplift. He told me that she tried to kick him.
While he was kneeling on her back with all of his weight, I was giving him a piece of my mind for how he had treated her.
I told him that I didn't care if she had him by the family jewels (not the term I used), he still didn't have the right to be physically abusing her the way he was and throwing her head down into the concrete risking her hitting her head and brain injury or even death.
I'm sure she hit her head at least once. An arm hitting concrete doesn't make a loud cracking sound, but the table was in the way and I didn't see what happened with his first "throw down", I just heard the sound, which I'm sure was her head.
They took the woman inside the store. The manager came out after the fact. I spoke to him and told him that if that was their store security, they need to reign them in because they had used way more force and tactics that they shouldn't have in order to apprehend her.
The police showed a few minutes after that, as did a Fire Truck who went in with a back board. As I was leaving I saw and ambulance show up. I'm sure she has more than a bunch of bruises because the was going at her pretty hard.
I didn't get a chance to stop and talk to the police in detail other than to tell them that the fight turned out to be store security apprehending a shop lifter, but I also told them that they should go in and investigate anyway because I felt they had used excessive force.
My cab arrived at that time. When I got home I called the police and left my name and phone number in case a witness was needed.
Now yes, what she did was wrong, but she doesn't deserve to be jumped all over and literally beaten up by store security. While they didn't punch her with their fists that I could see, everything else you would have seen in a bar fight, and that is just not right!!
I didn't see her try to hit him or kick him or even try to bite him. All I saw was her trying to get up from the ground and once up try to get away from him to presumably run off, but like I said she was somewhat inebriated and was no threat to him physically.
Anyway, I didn't even think about what I was doing when I approached and started to intervene. I just knew that I couldn't stand there and watch a woman getting beaten up.
He was pushing and shoving her around. Grabbing her clothing, and at one point it looked like he was behind her trying to push her to the ground. There was another girl there and she was pulling him and yelling "Get off of her!", but he reached behind and pushed her away.
Then he grabbed the girl he was all over by the back of the neck and literally threw her head first down into the concrete! I heard a loud crack, which could only have been made from her head hitting the pavement
I saw a bunch of people, including guys standing there just watching like it was some circus side show!
I dropped my purse and my bags and ran over to help that girl. I thought her boy friend was beating her up.
I ran over and yelled at him to leave her alone. He told me to mind my own business.
I walked right up to him, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled and told him to leave her the bleep alone. I was fully prepared to give him a punch to the kidneys if needed.
Now in the mean time she had tried to get up but he once again grabbed her by the back of the neck and threw her head first into the concrete with heavy force. She stopped her head from hitting the pavement by putting her arm out so she hit the concrete with her forearm instead, followed by her face.
I went running into the store yelling at the top of my lungs for someone to call 911 because someone was getting beaten up outside.
I came back outside and now they were in the parking lot. There was another guy standing there beside them watching and then he joined in. So now there were 2 of them all over this one woman. I had come out of the store just in time to see him throw her down head first into the pavement again. I yelled at him that the police have been called. He said "I am the police!"
At that point he was kneeling on her and trying to bend her arm behind her. I saw that he had a pair of handcuffs in his hand that he was trying to put on her. Her left arm was in such an awkward position that it looked like it might have been dislocated.
Apparently he was under cover store security and he saw her shopping lifting a deli salad and was trying to apprehend her.
IMO he was using excessive force. She was inebriated and staggering, she didn't have a gun or a knife or any other type of weapon and she was about 70 pounds lighter than he was. I told him that he was using excessive force and that he had no right be throwing her head first into the concrete like he had been, even if she did shoplift. He told me that she tried to kick him.
While he was kneeling on her back with all of his weight, I was giving him a piece of my mind for how he had treated her.
I told him that I didn't care if she had him by the family jewels (not the term I used), he still didn't have the right to be physically abusing her the way he was and throwing her head down into the concrete risking her hitting her head and brain injury or even death.
I'm sure she hit her head at least once. An arm hitting concrete doesn't make a loud cracking sound, but the table was in the way and I didn't see what happened with his first "throw down", I just heard the sound, which I'm sure was her head.
They took the woman inside the store. The manager came out after the fact. I spoke to him and told him that if that was their store security, they need to reign them in because they had used way more force and tactics that they shouldn't have in order to apprehend her.
The police showed a few minutes after that, as did a Fire Truck who went in with a back board. As I was leaving I saw and ambulance show up. I'm sure she has more than a bunch of bruises because the was going at her pretty hard.
I didn't get a chance to stop and talk to the police in detail other than to tell them that the fight turned out to be store security apprehending a shop lifter, but I also told them that they should go in and investigate anyway because I felt they had used excessive force.
My cab arrived at that time. When I got home I called the police and left my name and phone number in case a witness was needed.
Now yes, what she did was wrong, but she doesn't deserve to be jumped all over and literally beaten up by store security. While they didn't punch her with their fists that I could see, everything else you would have seen in a bar fight, and that is just not right!!
I didn't see her try to hit him or kick him or even try to bite him. All I saw was her trying to get up from the ground and once up try to get away from him to presumably run off, but like I said she was somewhat inebriated and was no threat to him physically.
Anyway, I didn't even think about what I was doing when I approached and started to intervene. I just knew that I couldn't stand there and watch a woman getting beaten up.