Security men hold down suspected shoplifter outside of Walgreen’s store.
Security men hold down suspected shoplifter outside of Walgreen’s store.
Child walks by as security men hold down suspected shoplifter outside of Walgreen’s store.
Child walks by as security men hold down suspected shoplifter outside of Walgreen’s store.
Police officer arrests suspected shoplifter outside of Walgreen’s store.
I wrote the following in 1991, after photographing the situation. But looking at it now, I’m seeing an episode of The Office waiting to be written.
I was looking for a parking spot in the mall at San Bruno when I saw four silly white guys holding a black man down on the ground.
I parked the car and ran back to the scene, pulling out my Leica.
The man being held down was putting up a good fight and almost got up a couple of times. While they were holding him down, he kept yelling “My gunshot wound! You’re on my gunshot wound!”
The man’s wife/girlfriend just kept repeating, “Take all the pictures you want, take all the pictures you want.”
One of the silly white guys—the silliest one— told me to, “Move on.” I stayed and kept shooting.
The silliest guy was choking the man, trying to keep him down.
A security guard came out and told me and others watching to leave. He said it twice, but I didn’t move. He didn’t say anything else.
A cop finally arrived and handcuffed the guy. They walked him away to figure the rest out.
Apparently, he was shoplifting. When the cop helped him to his feet, there was something poking his red pants out in his groin. Maybe the fracas got him excited.
