Wal-Mart Employee Charged With Assaulting Shopper
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
By Russell Bradley
Published: November 13, 2008
A Wal-Mart employee faces charges after police say he slammed a woman suspected of shoplifting face-first into the ground.
It happened late Tuesday night at the Dorman Centre Wal-Mart in Spartanburg. According to police reports, Joseph Gregorie, the store’s loss prevention officer, saw a 58-year old Greer woman concealing items in a bag. Gregorie says when he confronted her, the woman dropped the bag and tried to run away. The woman, Deborah Blackwell, tells police that Gregorie “bear hugged” her and slammed her face-first into the ground. She suffered a large contusion on her left eye and an injured hand and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. Gregorie told police that he grabbed Blackwell and she lost her balance and they both fell. But after reviewing surveillance video, the investigating officer said it shows Gregorie “throwing her to the ground”. He took the evidence to a judge who signed arrest warrants for both Gregorie and Blackwell.
Spartanburg Public Safety said it could not show us the surveillance video at this point because it will be used as evidence in court.
Gregorie is charged with simple assault and is out of jail on bond. Blackwell is charged with shoplifting and is also out on bond.
Blackwell tells News Channel 7 she is still in a lot of pain, but when asked if she was shoplifting, she said she had to speak to her attorney and ended the conversation. Gregorie said he could not comment on the case but did say he still has his job for now.
A Wal-Mart spokesperson says “the safety and security of customers and associates is a top priority. We always expect the utmost professionalism from our associates at all times. We are currently investigating the claims related to this situation and will take appropriate action. We are cooperating with police on their investigation.“
When asked about the company’s policy regarding stopping suspected shoplifters, the spokesperson said their employees do follow certain “asset protection” protocols, but she said she could not go into details about those protocols because of this investigation.
To see video showing the injuries to Blackwell’s face, click on the “play” icon on the video tab for this story.
Page 1 of 1
Post a Comment
The commenting period has ended or commenting has been deactivated for this article.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
Reader Reactions
Posted by ( NightShade ) on December 05, 2008 at 12:24 am
Obviously, the lady was wrong but does that mean some man using his authority to manhandle a woman and hurt her is any better? Justice is not for him to decide and dish out - that’s for the court system. Personally I hope Wal-marts and their employee gets the pants sued off of them because we have far too many “gorilla” prevention control employees out here that need to be on prozac to calm their anger down. A man died in Texas a few years ago when 5 Wal-mart employees held him down until he was actually dead - burnt to death on hot pavement for stealing a package of diapers for his 2 month old baby. Are these guys any better than the criminals they are catching? Wal-marts needs to get control before they lose a lot more than a few dollars worth of merchandise. They already paid the man in Texas’s family $750,000.00 Do the research - Wal-marts isn’t controlling their employees very well. They even go as far as intimidating other employees too!
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( vickyp7 ) on November 18, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I think the fact that Gregorie was arrested is unfortunate. If Blackwell hadnt been stealing, the incident would have never occured. Likewise, if she hadn’t resisted arrest once Gegorie identified himself, she would have never been injured. I have been an employee of one of the vendors in that Wal Mart for over 5 years, and I have seen the loss prevention officers make many arrests. I have never witnessed any of them use excessive force when apprehending shop lifters. I find it ridiculous that the judge signed warrants on both Blackwell and Gregorie.
Report Inappropriate Comment