‘Tis the season when shoplifters step up their game, but so did a loss prevention specialist at a Family Dollar store in Memphis.
A viral video on social media shows what happened when shoplifters tried to dash away with whatever they could carry in trying to flee a Family Dollar store in North Memphis.
It’s not clear when exactly the incident in question occurred, but the viral video began making its rounds on Thursday.
According to WHBQ-TV, five people were trying to get away, when Johnny Bluitt, charged with protecting the store’s goods, came on the scene.
WARNING: The below video contains imagery that some viewers may find disturbing
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He said the son of an employee initially helped tackle a suspect.
“Man, it was mayhem. They fight. So then I came in and tried to calm him down,” he said.
Bluitt kept one suspect from running off by keeping him on the floor with his arm around the suspect’s neck in what appeared to be a chokehold.
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The suspect begged to be let go as Bluitt held him while waiting for police to arrive.
While they struggled, other employees had locked the siding glass front doors to ensure that at least one suspect remained in custody.
The video shows that the suspects who had fled returned, and were kicking at the doors and hitting them until they finally shattered the glass.
“So, they got to busting the windows in and I thought it was a gunshot,” Bluitt said.
As the other suspects pushed their way into the store, the suspect Bluitt had been holding was able to escape.
Memphis Police would later estimate that the store sustained about $6,000 in damages.
Over at KWAM-AM, the station thought Bluitt should get a Christmas bonus:
A Family Dollar store worker in #Memphis puts a shoplifter in a chokehold. Whatever it takes to stop the lawlessness. The worker deserves a Christmas bonus! Follow @Mighty990KWAM pic.twitter.com/59tn5xUuYi
— KWAM NewsTalk Memphis (@Mighty990KWAM) December 10, 2022
Unfortunately, that Christmas bonus may look like a pink slip for Bluitt. who said he might be out of a job for breaking store policy.
“I was hired for what you all told me to do. But I believe they can take more preventative safety measures to ensure the safety of their employees which is not what they are doing,” he said.
Bluitt said that Family Dollar employees need training to defend themselves or greater protection against robberies.
