Would you kill someone for allegedly stealing a couple of tubes of toothpaste?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2254316,CST-NWS-shoplift10.article

Shoplifter dies from worker's chokehold

LITTLE VILLAGE | Family blasts decision not to charge employee

May 10, 2010

BY KIM JANSSEN AND TINA SFONDELES Staff Reporters

Anthony Kyser didn't have money for the tubes of toothpaste he stuffed in his jacket before he walked out of a Little Village CVS store Saturday morning.

He paid with his life, instead.

Chased out of the store and down a litter-strewn alley shortly before 11 a.m., the 35-year-old unemployed barber was strangled to death by a CVS employee who had seen him shoplifting, officials said.

Witnesses said Kyser, of the 1400 block of South Hamlin, cried, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" as the CVS worker held him in a chokehold for what they thought was several minutes. Three other men attempted to restrain him in the alley behind the 2600 block of South Pulaski, the witnesses said.

The medical examiner ruled Kyser's death a homicide, saying an autopsy showed he had been strangled, but police said Sunday the employee who killed him won't be charged.

[sendero]

1. And people wonder why..

... so many of us have no faith whatsoever in the "justice system" of this country any more.

Hopefully there is family that can bring a civil suit and at least ruin this maggot's financial life.

[RKP5637]

3. +1, n/t

[safeinOhio]

10. Thank God for lawyers and the

Seventh Amendment. CVS and that employ will find out how costly a tube of toothpaste will be.

[Echo In Light]

12. +1

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Disgusting

Why was a choke hold necessary?

[Vinca]

4. There are times when lethal force is justified, but shoplifting isn't one of them.

The clerk is going to jail.

[NNN0LHI]

6. police said Sunday the employee who killed him won't be charged.

[Vinca]

8. That's astonishing. I would think the DA would override that decision.

In any case, I'll bet lawyers are lined up outside the family's home chomping at the bit to get into a drugstore chain's deep pockets.

[Iggo]

5. Of course not. That would be stupid.

[arcadian]

7. Notice how they don't mention the CVS killer by name

even though there is no ethical or legal reason not to do so.

[NutmegYankee]

24. There is an ethical reason to not do that.

If you are not charged with a crime, dropping a name just invites someone to attack this person for revenge.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Yet CVS robs customers all the time.

I hate that store.

[Javaman]

11. Choked him?

It seems to me that the CVS employee has some major issues.

It's one thing to shoot someone, although traumatic, you are at a distance and removed, to a degree.

but to kill someone via ones own hands, that some serious shit.

There will certainly be much more to this before it goes away.

I think mr. CVS will be charged with homicide eventually, regardless what the cops think.

[aikoaiko]

13. I remember when this was more common....

Police once employed choke holds to detain and subdue resisting arrestees, but as the choke hold blocked airway the person often resisted more trying to breathe and the officer would clench tighter.

Its a risky technique.

Tasers are probably a better option.

[BoWanZi]

14. The dead guy was stealing, was it justified?

...no, it really isn't however if you go into a store with the intent to steal, then you know that there will be consequences of your actions. You do understand that a store can try to apprehend and restrain you until the police arrive to charge and book you.

With that said, do I side with CVS? At this point, I don't officially side with anyone because I'm not sure of the whole story. I don't know if the article is biased one way or the other trying to elicit an emotional response. Was the shoplifter trying to fight and escape? Was the shoplifter trying to hurt the employee? Did the shoplifter have some sort of medical condition that made him suspect to injury more so than someone without the same medical condition? It is possible that there was extenuating circumstances that we are not aware of.

What it all boils down to for me is when you decide to shoplift, you do know that you are committing a crime that has repercussions. Do you expect to die from them? No, but there is always that chance.

[NNN0LHI]

15. The dead man wasn't convicted of shoplifting. Did you miss that part?

Or do you just automatically believe the word of some murderer?

Don

[BoWanZi]

17. He wasn't convicted but he was a suspect.

I'm not excusing the employee, I'm just trying to point out that there are 2 sides to a story and there might have been some circumstances that made the death occur that normally would not have.

I personally don't think its wrong for a store to use justified force to restrain a shoplifter. The key is justified, was the employee using justified force or was he using way more force than what was necessary. A choke-hold is a common way to restrain a suspect that normally doesn't result in death.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. A chokehold is never justified for the offense of shoplifting. Period.

I'm not excusing the guy who was stealing the toothpaste but retail stores used to worry more about the potential for harm to their employees and therefore discouraged them from engaging in a fight with the suspect. If CVS doesn't at least reprimand this employee for the behavior they've just announced to their workforce that they support this use of force for what was probably less than $10 worth of merchandise, and their workers insurance premiums will go through the roof.

[BoWanZi]

16. oh yeah, one more thing

The title of the thread is not a fair one. I don't know of any employee who would ever think, "Boy, the next guy that tries to steal some toothpaste from our store is gonna die for it!" and then the employee intentionally kills that shoplifter. Absurd title.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. You're a LEO, right?

How are things in Washington state?

[Juneboarder]

18. Everyone reading this thread...

should go onto CVS's website and email them a comment to corporate letting them know you'll never shop there again for fear of your life...

You can contact CVS here: https://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/help/help_contact_us.jsp

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. I'd be lying to say I'd ever shop there, though.

They entered the Chicago market just a few years ago to compete with Walgreens and Osco and the few I've looked in are already looking run down, disorganized and dirty.

[Juneboarder]

25. Oh I totally agree...

I don't shop there, but still wanted to make a point to them that I never will... those losers! BTW... Walgreens is just as bad :(

[NutmegYankee]

26. There are drugstores that don't look all ratty inside? nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

27. Walgreens & Osco are better (neater, cleaner) around NW subs of Chicago.

I can't speak for other parts of town or other parts of the country.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. Can we all agree that chopping off a thief's hands is a more appropriate action than killing him?

I mean, we are not a country of barbarians.
:sarcasm:

[mrbarber]

22. Why didn't he just go to the dentist?

If he was unemployed, I'm sure being that were a civilized nation he wouldn't have been powerless to watch his teeth rot out of his head-right? Just like if he was sick and needed a doctors care, he could find it, right?

Sarcasm tag for the sarcastically impaired.

[fishwax]

23. wow, that's disgusting

Some of the details in the story are a bit odd--like that he was being held in a choke-hold but there were three other people trying to restrain him, and the witness reports of an off-duty cop that isn't mentioned in the report. But if the basic facts are right, and he choked a man for several minutes, it seems he should certainly be charged with something in the man's death--so if they aren't going to charge him, I hope the family can get justice in their civil suit.