Wal-Mart surveillance video will show an Illinois man violently wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by a store security guard after he refused to hand over his receipt for a door search.
Michael J. Phelan, a town alderman from Berwyn, Ill., was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly scuffling with an off-duty Chicago police officer who was working as a private security guard in the Forest Park, Ill. Wal-Mart Supercenter on July 27. The guard, Louis Jones, claims Phelan refused to show his receipt and resisted his attempt to handcuff him.
Phelan told IndieRegister.com that he showed Jones his receipt but refused to hand it to him. He is contesting the disorderly conduct charge and said Wal-Mart has caused his court appearance to be delayed because it has failed to turn over store surveillance tapes in a timely manner.
By their very nature, retail receipt checks are voluntary. Store employees can ask to see a shopper’s receipt or look through his purchases, but customers can decline to be searched.
Under state shoplifting laws, stores cannot detain you unless they have probable cause or reasonable suspicion — depending on your state — to believe you’ve committed a crime. Both are established legal standards that require some sort of evidence.
Phelan said Jones blocked his path and prevented him from leaving the store after he refused to hand Jones the receipt.
“(H)e pulled his cuffs off his belt and attempted to put them on my left wrist as my hands were still on my cart,” Phelan said in an e-mail. “I then instinctively did what just about anyone would do, I pulled my hands away. At this time he spun me around, threw me face-down on the ground and jumped on me along with the loss prevention individual.
“They cuffed me, pulled me up off of the floor and forced me into some sort of security room with monitors and whatnot. It was at this time that the security officer, Louis Jones, who happened to be an off-duty Chicago police officer with his Chicago-issued gun and badge on him had noticed that he cut his finger in the process of attacking me. He then threatened to break my jaw right in front of the camera. The cuffs were so tight on my left wrist that my wrist was bloody and my hand was purple.”
Jones said in a police report that Phelan was “getting out of control,” but Phelan said the surveillance video tells a different story — the unjustified cuffing of a man who had broken no laws.
Wal-Mart provided some of the surveillance tapes but is dragging its feet on turning over the rest, he said.
“They did have the footage from the front door where I was assaulted,” Phelan said. “My attorney agrees I was merely standing there conversing with the security guard when out of nowhere, he attacks me and body slams me to the floor.
“My attorney thinks there is clearly enough there to get me off on the local ordinance disorderly conduct charge. However, I told him I wanted them to turn over the rest of the tapes. Walmart was told to comply and produce all of the tapes. They haven’t. Therefore, my case has been delayed again. It will probably be a date later this month although nothing has been set just yet.”
This case is nothing short of an outrage. Store employees cannot demand to search our purchases — which became our private property as soon as we paid — and block our exit, tackle us and handcuff us if we refuse. While Jones is a sworn police officer, he has no more right to search a shopper than a store greeter or manager.
Police must have probable cause in order to detain and search a suspect. Jones clearly didn’t. Phelan hadn’t stolen anything, no witnesses had accused him of theft, and no reasonable court would ever conclude that Wal-Mart customers are always guilty until proven innocent.
Phelan should win his court case handily. He is also considering a lawsuit against Wal-Mart, and I hope he is successful. Jones should face, at minimum, a suspension without pay and some remedial education on consent searches and probable cause.
Hopefully, it’s not too late to file a complaint with the Chicago Police Department’s internal affairs office.
I’ve written extensively on IndieRegister.com — some would say too much — about receipt checks and our right of refusal. This case, however, isn’t just about post-purchase inspections.
It’s about police brutality, a false arrest and a bogus disorderly conduct charge against a man who did nothing wrong.
Give ‘em hell, Michael.
4 Comments
January 10, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I was told by China-Mart that if one item is not in a bag, they will ask to see a receipt. Even if a store person takes your stuff out, they will ask for a receipt, the store person might be part of a system to steal stuff. If all boils down to one thing, You are a thief, you are guilty, prove yourself right!! There was to be a constitution in this country, where has it gone??
January 10, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I’m with you in spirit, but I have a legal quibble. The Constitution — and specifically, the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable search and seizure — only applies to the government and its agents. Until Uncle Sam deputizes store greeters, they’re private citizens just like we are and aren’t bound by the Bill of Rights.
State law, however, offers plenty of protection against these searches, and that’s the silver bullet we should load in our proverbial pistols.
-Corey
January 11, 2009 at 3:21 pm
We must remember the 14 Amendment, this put it all together. But the real thing is that, according to state law, you must be out of the store before you can be approched. In this case, if the guy goes to court and wins, it could change China-marts policy.
March 6, 2009 at 4:50 pm
[...] Illinois village has dropped a disorderly conduct charge against a man who was attacked and handcuffed by a Wal-Mart security guard when he refused to give the guard his receipt at the [...]