Security guard collapses and dies after chasing shoplifting suspect

[bigdog Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigdog]

Security guard dies after chasing shoplifting suspect

Jan 09, 2008 09:16 PM
JACKSON HAYES
STAFF REPORTER

One man collapsed dead after chasing a suspected shoplifter in Markham today.
A security guard at the No Frills store in the Markham Rd. and Steeles Ave. area approached the unidentified suspect around 2:15 this afternoon. After a brief confrontation the suspect fled the scene with some stolen meat.
The security guard, a 51-year-old man from Toronto, gave chase through the parking lot and off the property before hailing a passing police cruiser. York officers chased down the man and wrangled the shoplifter to the ground before arresting him on the south side of Steeles Ave., roughly a kilometre away from the store.
According to Det. Don Dalgleish of York Regional Police Five District, the security guard was giving his statement to police approximately five minutes later when he collapsed in a heap.
“He was talking to the officer and he just fell over,” said Dalgleish.
An ambulance was called and despite the efforts of officers to save the man, he died on scene.
At this point, police are treating the death and the shoplifting as two separate incidents and are not linking the initial confrontation with the man’s death. Det. Dalgleish said more would be known following the scheduled autopsy tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
This particular No Frills store contracts their security out to a private company and it is not yet known what company the man worked for.
Identification is pending the notification of his next of kin.

[bpdblue Member Find all posts View Profile Close bpdblue]

Another sad story, and another good guard gone.

I have been involved in similar cases where upon the sudden death of a person involved in attempting the capture of a person committing a crime, the bad guy has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, due to the fact that his crime set off the situation leading to the death of the good person, even though the bad guy did not physically harm the deceased.

The same rule does not apply to the police or firefighters (at least in California) in a situation where the bad guy does not physically harm the emergency worker, due to the "firemens rule," which also applies to the police. The rule states, in essence, that emergency workers have a dangerous job, and the workers know it, so certain dangers associated with the job go with the job, and the workers just have to accept that they may die of things like heart attacks by doing their job. (This is in regard to criminal prosecutions of bad guys, and does not affect the benefits to the workers.)

[Ewfr 'Gomulee Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ewfr 'Gomulee]

Not sure when it happened but a few years ago in one of the Comet stores we had an LPO who gave chase to a suspect and midway through the chase the poor bloke had a heart attack and died there and then.

The cowardly thief, apparently, turned around to look at him and simply carried on running.

I hope the thief get soddomised in prison for the rest of his life.