Crime & Safety

Man Dead After Altercation At Lithonia Walmart

According to a police report, a suspected shoplifter was found dead after store employees detained him outside in the store parking lot.

A suspected shoplifter is dead after store employees at a Lithonia Wal-Mart detained him in the store's parking lot, according to wsbtv.com.

A police report obtained by the news outlet shows the incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, when a middle-aged man was suspected of shoplifting two DVD players from the Fairington Road store.

See also: Walmart: Incident at Lithonia Store 'Truly a Sad Situation'

Find out what's happening in Stone Mountain-Lithoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Store employees caught the suspect in the parking lot and a fight occurred while the employees tried to detain the man for police, according to the police report.

When police arrived, they found store employees on top of the man. It is not clear which police agency responded to the incident.

Find out what's happening in Stone Mountain-Lithoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The man was found unresponsive when police handcuffed him and bleeding from his nose and mouth, according to the report.

Paramedics transported the man to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A police report said one of the store employees had allegedly put the man in a choke hold, but an official cause of death has not been determined.

Employees involved in the incident have been suspended with pay while the incident is investigated, according to the report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.