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Use of force at issue in Wal-Mart case
A grand jury will decide if the retail giant was justified in acting against shoplifting suspect
By ROBERT CROWE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
The father of a shoplifting suspect who died while struggling with Wal-Mart employees wasn't shocked when officials ruled the death a homicide.
Now, H.C. Driver and other family members are hoping that the people responsible for Stacy Clay Driver's death will be brought to justice.
"Something like that isn't supposed to happen, especially in this country," the father said. "I have believed up to now in the justice system, and I hope it continues to work."
Also, the Driver family has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against Wal-Mart.
Stacy Driver suffocated Aug. 7 while struggling with Wal-Mart employees who suspected him of shoplifting from an Atascocita store.
The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Driver's death was caused primarily by asphyxia because of neck and chest compression. A secondary cause was hyperthermia with methamphetamine toxicity.
A Harris County prosecutor is expected to present to a grand jury the findings of a sheriff's office investigation into Driver's death.
The Driver family's lawyer, Jim Lindeman, hopes that ? if an indictment is handed down ? a criminal jury would be sympathetic even though Driver had illegal drugs in his system and prior records of shoplifting and assault.
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said a homicide ruling doesn't necessarily mean a crime has been committed. He said the grand jury will have to determine whether deadly force was justifiable.
Wal-Mart has declined to discuss its policy on use of force or whether the employees involved in Driver's death have been disciplined.
"This was an unfortunate event. ... It was very difficult on the Driver family and also on our associates," said Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires. "We don't normally discuss our policies ... but (Wal-Mart employees) receive appropriate training."
Driver's death is among at least 30 similar deaths of unarmed shoplifting suspects across the country during the past 15 years. The suspects were either shot and killed, or they suffocated in struggles with "loss-prevention" employees or security guards, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of a major news database.
At least two were at Wal-Mart stores, which use employees trained to look for shoplifters and other thieves. Other stores where deaths occurred include two national drugstore chains and Dillard's. In many cases in which homicide was ruled as the cause of death, charges weren't filed or eventually were dropped.
A parking lot struggle
In the Houston case, Driver, 30, of Cleveland, was accused of fleeing the store at 6626 East FM 1960 in Atascocita with a stolen gift card worth $94. Witnesses said Wal-Mart employees chased him into the store parking lot and wrestled him to the ground before pinning and handcuffing the shirtless man face-down with hands behind his back. During a struggle that lasted up to 30 minutes, according to some witnesses, Driver begged employees to let him up and call an ambulance, said witness Charles Portz, a Houston lawyer.
"A shoplifter is a thief, no question, but the penalty for that is not the death penalty," said John H. Christman, a retail-security expert.
Driver's widow, Wendy, 27, said Stacy Driver was obtaining his pilot's license and also embarking on a career as a master carpenter. They have a 5-month-old son, Ashton.
"They took my baby's daddy away from me," she said. "They had no right to do that."
Meanwhile, H.C. Driver has joined some security experts in calling for a revision of use-of-force laws and better training for security guards and "loss-prevention" employees, whose use-of-force training is determined by retail chains.
The father says the country's largest retailer should be required to demonstrate that its loss-prevention employees meet some minimum training standard, especially when millions of Americans enter its stores regularly.
The Chronicle has obtained a portion of Wal-Mart's "Shoplifting Apprehension" policy. It states loss-prevention employees can use "reasonable force," but safety must always be foremost on the employee's mind.
"If the situation becomes violent or is deemed potentially dangerous, you should allow the shoplifter to leave the premise," the policy states.
When asked to verify the contents of the Wal-Mart policy, Heires declined, citing the pending investigation.
Christman said retail loss-prevention employees are not licensed law enforcement officers, so they should not be able to use a degree of force that could cause serious injury or death.
After three shoplifting suspects in the Detroit area were killed in similar incidents in 2001, the Michigan Legislature passed laws increasing minimum training standards for security guards and requiring concealed-weapon permits for armed guards. The law also prohibits felons from working as security guards.
"Our position in Michigan was that security guards were to observe and report, and that's it," said lobbyist Phil Hoffman, a former Michigan state senator who sponsored the 2001 legislation. "We wanted security guards to leave the apprehension to law enforcement."
Chris McGoey, a California-based retail-security consultant, opposes the concept of state-mandated policies.
"The industry should enact policies themselves," he said.
In another Wal-Mart case, a man died in September 2001 after employees in Las Vegas chased him off store property and into a neighborhood. Jan M. Burstein, 29, of Leawood, Kan., died in custody of employees who had pinned him face-down on the ground with his arms behind his back.
The Las Vegas-area coroner pronounced Burstein's death a homicide, but no charges were filed because, according to the Clark County District Attorney's Office, the store employees had not broken any laws. Burstein's father declined to comment, citing legal reasons.
Other confrontations
The use of off-duty law enforcement officers as security guards at retail stores is not always a panacea.
Off-duty officers ostensibly have the most rigorous professional training to work as security guards. But at least six people, including four in Texas, have died at Dillard's stores ? where armed, off-duty law enforcement officers are employed ? after confrontations with security guards. Julie Bull, a Dillard's spokeswoman, declined to comment. Dillard's has been sued and widely criticized for the deaths and other actions by its security guards.
In the most recent incident involving the store, on May 8, 2004, an off-duty Harris County deputy shot at shoplifting suspect Robert Barkley, 36, outside the Dillard's at Deerbrook Mall.
The deputy chased Barkley into the parking lot, where he fired rounds at the driver's-side window of Barkley's car. Barkley was wounded in the face and hand. Deputy William Wilkinson said he was trying to defend himself when Berkley drove his car toward him. Barkley, like Driver, had a previous shoplifting arrest and assault charge.
A grand jury will decide if the retail giant was justified in acting against shoplifting suspect
By ROBERT CROWE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
The father of a shoplifting suspect who died while struggling with Wal-Mart employees wasn't shocked when officials ruled the death a homicide.
Now, H.C. Driver and other family members are hoping that the people responsible for Stacy Clay Driver's death will be brought to justice.
"Something like that isn't supposed to happen, especially in this country," the father said. "I have believed up to now in the justice system, and I hope it continues to work."
Also, the Driver family has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against Wal-Mart.
Stacy Driver suffocated Aug. 7 while struggling with Wal-Mart employees who suspected him of shoplifting from an Atascocita store.
The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Driver's death was caused primarily by asphyxia because of neck and chest compression. A secondary cause was hyperthermia with methamphetamine toxicity.
A Harris County prosecutor is expected to present to a grand jury the findings of a sheriff's office investigation into Driver's death.
The Driver family's lawyer, Jim Lindeman, hopes that ? if an indictment is handed down ? a criminal jury would be sympathetic even though Driver had illegal drugs in his system and prior records of shoplifting and assault.
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said a homicide ruling doesn't necessarily mean a crime has been committed. He said the grand jury will have to determine whether deadly force was justifiable.
Wal-Mart has declined to discuss its policy on use of force or whether the employees involved in Driver's death have been disciplined.
"This was an unfortunate event. ... It was very difficult on the Driver family and also on our associates," said Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires. "We don't normally discuss our policies ... but (Wal-Mart employees) receive appropriate training."
Driver's death is among at least 30 similar deaths of unarmed shoplifting suspects across the country during the past 15 years. The suspects were either shot and killed, or they suffocated in struggles with "loss-prevention" employees or security guards, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of a major news database.
At least two were at Wal-Mart stores, which use employees trained to look for shoplifters and other thieves. Other stores where deaths occurred include two national drugstore chains and Dillard's. In many cases in which homicide was ruled as the cause of death, charges weren't filed or eventually were dropped.
A parking lot struggle
In the Houston case, Driver, 30, of Cleveland, was accused of fleeing the store at 6626 East FM 1960 in Atascocita with a stolen gift card worth $94. Witnesses said Wal-Mart employees chased him into the store parking lot and wrestled him to the ground before pinning and handcuffing the shirtless man face-down with hands behind his back. During a struggle that lasted up to 30 minutes, according to some witnesses, Driver begged employees to let him up and call an ambulance, said witness Charles Portz, a Houston lawyer.
"A shoplifter is a thief, no question, but the penalty for that is not the death penalty," said John H. Christman, a retail-security expert.
Driver's widow, Wendy, 27, said Stacy Driver was obtaining his pilot's license and also embarking on a career as a master carpenter. They have a 5-month-old son, Ashton.
"They took my baby's daddy away from me," she said. "They had no right to do that."
Meanwhile, H.C. Driver has joined some security experts in calling for a revision of use-of-force laws and better training for security guards and "loss-prevention" employees, whose use-of-force training is determined by retail chains.
The father says the country's largest retailer should be required to demonstrate that its loss-prevention employees meet some minimum training standard, especially when millions of Americans enter its stores regularly.
The Chronicle has obtained a portion of Wal-Mart's "Shoplifting Apprehension" policy. It states loss-prevention employees can use "reasonable force," but safety must always be foremost on the employee's mind.
"If the situation becomes violent or is deemed potentially dangerous, you should allow the shoplifter to leave the premise," the policy states.
When asked to verify the contents of the Wal-Mart policy, Heires declined, citing the pending investigation.
Christman said retail loss-prevention employees are not licensed law enforcement officers, so they should not be able to use a degree of force that could cause serious injury or death.
After three shoplifting suspects in the Detroit area were killed in similar incidents in 2001, the Michigan Legislature passed laws increasing minimum training standards for security guards and requiring concealed-weapon permits for armed guards. The law also prohibits felons from working as security guards.
"Our position in Michigan was that security guards were to observe and report, and that's it," said lobbyist Phil Hoffman, a former Michigan state senator who sponsored the 2001 legislation. "We wanted security guards to leave the apprehension to law enforcement."
Chris McGoey, a California-based retail-security consultant, opposes the concept of state-mandated policies.
"The industry should enact policies themselves," he said.
In another Wal-Mart case, a man died in September 2001 after employees in Las Vegas chased him off store property and into a neighborhood. Jan M. Burstein, 29, of Leawood, Kan., died in custody of employees who had pinned him face-down on the ground with his arms behind his back.
The Las Vegas-area coroner pronounced Burstein's death a homicide, but no charges were filed because, according to the Clark County District Attorney's Office, the store employees had not broken any laws. Burstein's father declined to comment, citing legal reasons.
Other confrontations
The use of off-duty law enforcement officers as security guards at retail stores is not always a panacea.
Off-duty officers ostensibly have the most rigorous professional training to work as security guards. But at least six people, including four in Texas, have died at Dillard's stores ? where armed, off-duty law enforcement officers are employed ? after confrontations with security guards. Julie Bull, a Dillard's spokeswoman, declined to comment. Dillard's has been sued and widely criticized for the deaths and other actions by its security guards.
In the most recent incident involving the store, on May 8, 2004, an off-duty Harris County deputy shot at shoplifting suspect Robert Barkley, 36, outside the Dillard's at Deerbrook Mall.
The deputy chased Barkley into the parking lot, where he fired rounds at the driver's-side window of Barkley's car. Barkley was wounded in the face and hand. Deputy William Wilkinson said he was trying to defend himself when Berkley drove his car toward him. Barkley, like Driver, had a previous shoplifting arrest and assault charge.
Congratulations on your young spirit and for staying safe all those years in a dangerous profession. 
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