The following two stories appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette on Thursday, December 30, 1999:

Wal-Mart Accused of Bias

Wal-Mart's Shoplifting Policy

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Witness says treatment of suspect racially motivated
By Gina Perales/The Gazette.

A 19-year-old suspected shoplifter was kicked in the chest, handcuffed, then dragged across the store by Wal-Mart employees who detained him Dec. 4, according to a witness who contends the incident was racially motivated.

The incident, complaints to store officials and inquiries by The Gazette prompted the company to investigate. Officials at the store at Platte Avenue and Chelton Road refused to comment, but corporate representatives denied employees acted improperly in subduing Keith Lawson of Colorado Springs.

Lawson was detained by store employees and accused of shoplifting cigarettes worth $5.50 around midnight, according to the summons issued to him.

The incident was witnessed by Joyce Green, 44, of Colorado Springs, a retired bank teller and customer service representative, who was shopping when she saw three employees run to the front of the store to help a plainclothes security guard.

Green, who said she watched from just six feet away, said the four wrestled with Lawson inside the store near the north entrance, pulling his gray jacket over his head "like a straightjacket," and kicked him while he was on the ground.

Lawson is black and the store employees who restrained him are white.

The incident was "almost like a Rodney King thing," Green said, referring to the beating of a black man by white police officers in Los Angeles in 1992.

Employees handcuffed Lawson and dragged him across the front of the inside of the store and into a Colorado Springs Police Department satellite station at the south entrance, where they waited for police, she said.

Green said she began to think race was an issue after overhearing a comment from an employee who helped restrain Lawson. According to Green, "He said, ‘I have had black people draw knives and guns and everything like that. All these black people come in here and try to steal."’

Green told The Gazette she was so angered by what she saw and heard at the store that she confronted managers. A woman manager asked Green if she was related to Lawson. When Green asked why, the manager said, "Because you re black."

"They were very hostile toward me," she said. "They were going to charge me with trespassing."

In interviews with The Gazette, Lawson, who is about 130 pounds and 5 feet 5 inches tall, admitted he concealed cigarettes, tried to escape when confronted and then defended himself from the employees, guarding his face with his arms and fists as they tried to detain him.

First, Lawson said, the security guard placed him in a headlock and pushed him to the floor inside the store at the north entrance.

"The rest of them ran up to me, started grabbing me and kicked me on my side," Lawson said. "One of them had his knee on my chest to keep me down."

He said employees trying to subdue him during the incident called him "boy," a term blacks consider derogatory. He said the employees said, "C’mon boy," as they attempted to handcuff him.

"I felt like they were trying to fight me," he said. Lawson said the scuffle left him injured. Two days after the incident, Lawson checked into the emergency room at Memorial Hospital, where doctors said he had suffered chest contusions, or bruises, according to a medical report.

Lawson said he waited two days to get treatment because he was still in shock. As the pain in his chest got worse and he began to have recurring headaches, he went to the emergency room, he said.

In another doctor’s examination last week, Lawson underwent a brain scan. Doctors said he had suffered a concussion, according to medical forms obtained by The Gazette.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. representatives in Arkansas said the company investigated after The Gazette’s inquiries and found no evidence to support accusations of brutality or racism.

"That’s just ridiculous," said John Bisio, spokesman. "That store in particular is well-represented by people of all color. To imply or state racial motive is just without merit. It’s a classic case of embarrassment and sour grapes.’’

Bisio said he spoke to managers and the employees involved about the incident. From his inquiries, Bisio determined only two employees, a security guard and an assistant manager, apprehended Lawson outside the store’s front doors. He would not release their names.

The summons and complaint were signed by Thomas Taylor Jr., an employee who said he couldn’t talk with the media because it was against company policy, and Ann Zimmerman, another employee who store employees say is the night shift manager.

Bisio also said Lawson was not dragged across the store. He said the incident occurred outside the store and Lawson was escorted to the south entrance from there.

Bisio said Lawson tried to escape, collided with one employee and caused them both to fall to the ground. "There was a lot of thrashing about by the customer," he said. "When he scrambled to get up, they handcuffed him."

On occasion, force is used to subdue a suspected shoplifter, said Wal-Mart representatives, especially if a suspect fights back. But the company denies employees kicked Lawson.

"If someone is trying to get away, kicking won’t stop them," said Jessica Moser, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. "This had nothing to do with discrimination and everything to do with Wal-Mart’s zero tolerance for shoplifting."

Later in the day of Lawson’s arrest, his sister Anita Davis confronted store managers about the incident and demanded to see any videotapes of it. Police were called, and she was charged with harassment. She is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 18.

Lawson’s first court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 25. He was cited for shoplifting and possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana at the time of his arrest. 

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Wal-Mart officials say company policy states that security guards must see a suspect hide an item and walk past the registers to the front door before a minimum of two guards can confront the suspect.

Next, the guard must ask the suspect to return the stolen item.

If a suspect tries to flee, handcuffs can be used for restraint.

Jessica Moser, a corporate spokeswoman, said that although shoplifting policies vary from store to store, under no circumstances do any of the policies allow guards to kick a suspect.

"We don’t want to make a scene," Moser said. "We accompany them to a private office in the store and then fill out paperwork. Our utmost priority is the safety of the employees and the customers. If they have a weapon, we just call police. If we can stop them, then we do."

Local police said the Wal-Mart on Platte Avenue and Chelton Road received 86 calls for service Nov. 28 through Wednesday [Dec. 29]. Of those, 22 calls were about shoplifting. The other calls were about suspicious persons, medical emergencies, traffic accidents and domestic disturbances.

Updated Tuesday, November 12, 2002 © Copyright, 2000- 2004. All rights reserved. The Coalition of Tri-Lakes Communities, P.O. Box 1763, Monument, Colorado 80132-1763