A civilian “loss prevention officer” employed by the North Coast Co-op in Arcata chased down and handcuffed an alleged shoplifter on Saturday afternoon, and a neighboring business owner who witnessed the arrest says the man used excessive force.
Michael King, a co-op member and owner of the bead supply store on the corner of Eighth and I streets, said he was working in his shop around 3 p.m. when his kids called out to him, telling him to come look at the man holding a woman down outside. King looked out the window, saw what his kids were describing and decided to grab his camera.
“I didn’t know if this guy was a cop, a mugger, her boyfriend,” King said in an interview Monday afternoon. “It looked like he was going for cuffs, but he was in plain clothes.”
The man kept the woman pinned to the ground, kneeling on her neck and pulling her arm back to cuff her. King felt that the force was excessive and snapped a few photos, including the two in this post.
“I asked him if he would provide his name or any other form of ID,” King wrote in an email that he later sent to co-op management. “His response was to say, ‘Give me that camera.'” King told the Journal that the man repeatedly demanded he hand over his camera, later asking a co-op employee to take it from him, but the employee refused.
In his email, King described what happened next: “He tried to come in the [bead] shop & physically take the camera from me, but the door was already locked by that time & with the arrival of the APD [Arcata Police Department] he no longer tried to steal my camera, or make mention of it. Had I not locked the door, I would have been a victim in this matter.”
In a phone interview Monday afternoon, Arcata Police Detective Sgt. Todd Dokweiler said that the woman was a shoplifter fleeing from store employees, and the man who apprehended her was one of the store’s loss prevention officers.
“We were notified, we responded, and we accepted the citizen’s arrest,” Dokweiler said. “It’s a pretty common situation where employees will detain someone — either cooperatively or not.”
Kingg posted his photos of the incident on Facebook and later walked over to the co-op, where the security guard was “real apologetic” about trying to take his camera, he said. But Kingg is still hoping that co-op management will take action to prevent such an incident from happening again. His email, which he says he forwarded to numerous co-op employees, explains his concerns:
“While he may have been angered by her resistance, this is no excuse for excessive force. People in a position of power have the responsibility to behave appropriately & most witnesses present would say that he overstepped his bounds & there is no doubt that he went too far in attempting to steal my camera & threatening me.”
Reached Monday afternoon, Arcata store manager Kevin Waters said, “As with any situation like this we’re going to investigate it fully.” Beyond that he had no comment.
UPDATE: See the security company’s response here.
This article appears in Marimba!.
Tired of thieves….I say she deserved it!
Tired of thug cops and would-be thug cops (think George Zimmerman)!!!
I will not shop there again until he is fired. Stealing hurts everyone but this guy lost it. I especially do not like that he intimidated a witness to the situation and tried to take their camera.
Try owning a business in this area right now…the shoplifters are at an all time high and we are tired of handing over our product free of charge. It is hard enough to run a business without having to worry about thieves EVERYDAY!!!! Don’t steal if you don’t want to get chased down and held to the ground. What I am tired of is people like this guy trying to stick up for the thieves!
I will also no longer shop there as well. I’m not a fan of theft either, we all have to pay for it. But with theft there could at least be reason; I know I would steal bread to feed my child if I was in a situation where that had become my only option. I know nothing of the thief’s back story or the loss prevention “officer.” However, I do know that, considering the relative sizes and strengths of the “officer” vs. the woman pinned to the concrete with a knee to her neck, there is no possible way that extreme level of force was necessary. Then, after using that much force to prevent theft, he goes and tries to intimidate and STEAL a camera from a bystander? Are you fu*$ing kidding me? That sounds a lot like anger management issues to me, not a good thing for that line of work. We will “investigate it fully” says the Co-op store manager. Sounds like he missed out on a career in politics.
good job security guard im with ya
fuck these stupid punks that try to steal all the time
you did your job and nothing more…this guy sticking up for them is an asshole who doesnt understand what it means to be stolen from on a daily bases these people bring it upon themselves
Assuming the information in this article is factual, the arresting man went wrong, not by the arrest itself, but by making any demands regarding the witness’ camera. Downright gestapo-like. For that, he needs to be put in his place.
He has no jurisdiction regarding anyone who has not committed a crime – in fact, I wonder if he would have committed a crime himself, had someone tried to take the camera away – accessory to battery and theft, maybe? If you’re going to use the powers of citizens arrest, take it seriously and know what you’re doing.
As far as the arrest itself, he needs to *know* that a misdemeanor was committed before arresting someone. Assuming he does *know* the person committed a misdemeanor, I don’t think it’s excessive to put someone in a hold that assures that he, himself, will not be injured – even if it looks bad, and even if it’s a woman – but that’s assuming she was not injured by just laying there. If she was, that’s a whole new issue.
Looks like a wannabe cop out of control. Kneeling on someone’s neck is not a safe way of restraining them, and appears to be extremely excessive given the difference in size between the guy and the woman he was restraining.
Attempting to to confiscate a camera from a witness is a very serious matter in its own right, and if true, he should be fired even for that alone.
I will no longer be shopping at the Co-op until I see that they have had a credible independent investigation of this incident, held this guy accountable as appropriate given the findings of that investigation, and taken steps to make sure nothing like this happens again.
There are many opinions on this…some will say she deserved it, some will say he was too excessive….unless we were there & saw the whole situation ensue, who are we to judge..
Could there have been a chance that she was fighting him back to resist arrest so he had no choice but to pin her down…possibly, could she have been on drugs and out of control, possibly…lots of possibilites.
Either way, a crime was committed and like caligirl2381 said “Don’t steal if you don’t want to get chased down and held to the ground”…we business owners are tired of handing over “freely” what we work so hard for.
How does loss get re-couped? Prices are raised. You should be thankful she was caught and to not shop at the Co-Op because a man was doing his job, even if excessively, is ridiculous as he was protecting your right to shop without added costs.
I don’t care why she was stealing. Theft is theft, a crime punishable by law…and any excuse to justify why it was done or how excessive it was is just that.
@ Shari Weyde Ferrantino Martinsen,
I’m not making any “excuses” for shoplifting. I don’t agree that “to not shop at the Co-Op because a man was doing his job, even if excessively, is ridiculous as he was protecting your right to shop without added costs.” If he was using excessive force, then he was NOT doing his job properly. My “right to shop without added costs” does not negate everyone’s right, even criminals, to not be treated with excessive force.
Meanwhile, you’re free to speculate about drug use or violence on the part of the suspect, or whatever you want — but none of that would justify the guy trying to seize the camera from the witness. If the Co-op wants me, and those who are concerned about this as I am, to continue to patronize their business and give them my hard-earned money, they will have to convince me that they have taken strong action to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
That is way too much force… there must be another way to catch the shoplifter. Maybe train the security . Shoplifting is horrible. If she had a gun or something like that its understandable.. but that?
From what I can see from these pictures, she apparently hadn’t used plastic bags to transport her ill gotten booty. What a relief!
One less transient to worry about! Justice served…
I’m sorry but there are other cases in which these “loss prevention officers” are abusing their power and there needs to be something done about it before I go and spend my hard earned money at a place that employs these people. I am sure the prices at the co-op have also been raised to afford their salaries as well. There are other cases of these officers misinterpreting paying customers and actions in the store that the officer viewed as wrong (AKA screwing a loose cap back on a juice bottle and putting it back on the shelf that wasn’t originally loosened by this same customer, yet the officer followed her out to her car in a intimidating fashion told her she was not allowed to do this) So I wish to have a non-invasive shopping experience via passive shoplifting control. I will be shopping at Eureka Natural Foods, where Chris the manager personally informed me that they used to outsource their security and now is done internally. They call police if necessary and yes that does not work perfectly every time but oh well, stores like these have insurance in times of loss. I am sorry that smaller businesses have to endure greater loss in times like this but the perp should not have his or her life threatened via excessive force. Let the people in uniform handle it. I do not condone shoplifting nor the use of excessive force.
Why would someone want to go and get in the “middle” of something like this and want to publish the photos to make someone look bad? Especially, when they had no idea what had just taken place before this! In this day and age, you never know what a thief, burglar, robber, etc., will do to someone who is about to detain them….and from this pic, I would bet on it that this thief was doing everything she could to try to get away. I say “way to go” to the Security Guard. It is a very dangerous job and someone has to do it! We need more of you in the business world!
I think LP needs to have a uniform on.. like at Target, Ross… then you see who they are and know what you are up against if you are going to try and steal something..
I would not want that job!
If she was stealing from the coop than most likely she was stealing food (unless if it was booze of course). I’m not an advocate of stealing. It is straight up wrong. But all you people that are just saying “that’s what thieves get”, have obviously never been hungry.
That security guy could have restrained her with out as much aggression, (hell I could have and I’m the same size (and sex) as her). The fact that he demanded the business owners camera shows guilt that he knows he was using too much force.
I showed this story to a person I know who’s employed as head of security for a business. This person says;
1. What he’s doing in the picture is illegal.
2. He wanted the camera because he knows what he’s doing is illegal.
3. Loss prevention at major retailers do not chase people past their own doors. What if that “alleged” shop lifter was hit by a car?
That’s just what I was told by a pro.
I was actually wrongly accused of shoplifting at that very store so I know they make mistakes.
I will not go in either Co-op store until they fix this. I’ll probably end up canceling my membership.
North Coast Co-op replies on its facebook page:
Dear Community Members,
The recent media coverage of one of our loss prevention officers arresting a shoplifter is unfortunate, as it inaccurately portrays the facts of this confidential incident. We can assure you that the situation was handled professionally. The loss prevention officer involved in the incident is a professionally trained post-certified law enforcement officer who reasonably responded defensively to apprehend an aggressive and combative shoplifter.
Police officers and security personnel must use special handhold and takedown techniques to subdue combative or violent suspects. The technique consists of a series of moves designed to control and bring a suspect down to the ground with the least amount of force, and injury to the arresting officer and the suspect. It is standard law enforcement procedure taught in any law enforcement training academy. After properly identifying himself as loss prevention for the Co-op, it became necessary to use reasonable force allowed by law to detain and apprehend the subject that was uncooperative, combative, and a safety concern. Our officer is required to make split decisions where safety is concerned, and he works hard to make sure any stop is resolved peacefully and cooperatively.
We wish we didn’t have regular incidents that require a contract with a loss prevention company, but both of our stores face very different situations–almost daily–that warrant asking for outside assistance. The number of verbal and physical assaults on our employees reached a point where we no longer felt equipped to manage it internally, and we made the decision to contract with a loss prevention company a few years ago. Over the years the number and nature of the theft in our area has increased and gotten more violent and we have been grateful to have a loss prevention officer on sight for the safety of our employees and shoppers, in addition to deterring theft.
With regards to the citizen’s camera, the loss prevention officer’s sole concern in contacting the camera owner was to request that the owner of the camera not publicize the photos in order to protect the identity of the perpetrator and the officer. Unfortunately, the media failed to mention that the loss prevention officer was accompanied by a local police officer when the attempt to contact the camera owner was made.
We hope that you can understand the position we are in to protect the perpetrator and that we conduct a thorough investigation of each incident. We recognize that how this situation is handled is very important to you. We care deeply about the community and thank those of you who have continued to support us over the years.
If you have further questions about this incident, please contact Melanie Bettenhausen at 826-8670 ext. 132 or melanieb@northcoastco-op.com
Coop must do something about this!!! my friend is practically a saint and she had an incident with same LP within this past month, falsely accused of stealing over a complete misunderstanding. Made formal complaint to coop w/o any action taken to correct matter by coop. Seems like this guy took that as the permission take things even more over the top. Wonder if he only takes down females or if he just enjoys it all the more. This takes corporate oppression to a whole knew level. For those who think this only happens to thieves… you live in a dream world. This guy is on a power trip and the Coop is funding his debauchery. Good thing I already cancelled my membership d/t this very issue a month ago:) I too will not step foot in the Coop till public action is taken to correct this gross miss use of power. Tactics have to be consistent with goals COOP, so unless you want this guy as your poster board for public relations, you need to make a change, and fast.
Deserve it or not, a professional needs to act to professional standards. We should all remember the photographer is a business owner in what has got to be one of the easiest to shop lift from stores in Arcata. He understands theft. ENF also has loss prevention officers, but they are uniformed, I know because one directed me to the water dispenser just a few days ago. If the coop wants to deter shop lifters, and not just catch them, then it seems a uniformed officer would be more a deterrent than one who looks like just another shopper. I think that alone would’ve prevented a lot of the confusion. All of you “thieves deserve it” folks also need to remember you’re living in a country that has bullied and parasitized the rest of the world for most of the fancy crap you “own”. You want to address thievery, start there.
I do believe that my incident while working at the Co-op is what instituted the “no following shoplifters off of store property” rule. Is this one of the reasons that they hired outside help for security? So their insurance won’t have to cover it when something happens to one of their employees again? I got my face kicked in because I followed the wrong person. I don’t agree with his use of force, and I don’t agree with his being allowed to leave the property to bust her. Sorry dude, but $11 an hour (if you’re lucky) isn’t worth being stabbed by some lowlife who wants a sandwich.
As a coop member and Buddhist we cannot tolerate injustice, like theft. Recently a mckinleyville Rays employee was bitten while trying to aprehend a shoplifter; had she been capable of physically controlling the situation it wouldn’t have happened. Theft is wrong, swift justice is right. The coop is expensive enough without covering the loss from theft. Hopefully this will denture some future theft.
A man was recently killed by officers kneeling on him in the same way. This man is not an officer of the LAW, therefore what he did to that woman looks like assault to me. Stealing does not justify assault, from ANYONE, authority figure or not.
The Co-Op should be ashamed and that man should not work for them anymore. I will be in fear of entering their store. And I am not a thief.
“…what he did to that woman looks like assault to me.”
No, what she did to him was an assault. What he did with her was an arrest.
Why is the Co-op ignoring Michael King’s statement? Why would he be making a false statement? The security guard has plenty of reasons to try to bully someone into giving over a camera. Even if he DID return with an APD officer, last time I checked you need a warrant…or am I living in a different country?
Furious co-op member here…
I know someone that was threatened with this over a peanut taken from one the bins. I’m sorry, but if I want to do business with thugs, I can go to Wal-Mart and pay a lot less for the privilege.
i hope the girl sues and drys the coop out of business. i think that the thief is the coop.
Dear Co-Op Board of Directors! I just read your response to what happened. Based on your letter I will close my account and never shop in your stores again. I will inform all my family and friends of the same. I want you to know, I have been a member for over 20 years, I have enjoyed my membership.
I do not condone theft. I believe that the thief should be arrested, and face a jury and jail time. HOWEVER, At NO time EVER should your estimated,180 pound or so male loss prevention officer be kneeling on a estimated, 125+ pound woman’s neck. At no time would I ever want representatives of the CO op I am a proud member of to use violence on another human being. That is a act of desperation and poor management. If this officer is “professionally trained” and he saw this as his only option?, than he is very poorly trained.
Further….Are you really condoning your officers aggressive bullying and intimidation in a attempt to hide possible evidence of HIS crimes? Are you really condoning the attempted theft of a respected business owners camera who was documenting an assault? SHAME ON YOU!!! Attempting to to confiscate a camera from a witness is a very serious matter in its own right, and if true, he should be fired even for that alone.
I will no longer be shopping at the Co-op until I see that they have had a credible independent investigation of this incident and the current management of the co-op is retrained in loss prevention techniques that do not involve physical violence on women, or witness intimidation and power plays. Hold this “professional” security guard accountable, as appropriate given the findings of that investigation, and take steps to make sure nothing like this happens again.