CVS Employee Charged With Assault For Dragging Suspected Shoplifter Back Into Store

(zipsonic)

A CVS customer tried to return some batteries without a receipt, and was told that she wouldn’t be allowed to. Oh, well: she went to leave the store with her merchandise, and an unidentified man dragged her back inside the store. He was a CVS loss prevention officer, it turns out, but she claims he didn’t identify himself.

The CVS employee took the aspiring battery-returner’s purse and merchandise, but didn’t take her phone, which is how she was able to dial 9-1-1. Her boyfriend, who was waiting in the car, also saw a man grab her and drag her back inside the store, and he followed them back in.

“I grabbed her hand and that’s when they attacked me,” her boyfriend told TV station KHOU.

One would think that police would take the side of loss prevention when they arrived on the scene, but the cops watched surveillance video and ended up arresting the loss prevention officer, not the suspected shoplifter. Police said that he has been charged with assault.

CVS, in a statement, said that they’e investigating the incident:

CVS/pharmacy has specific policies and procedures for interacting with customers who are suspected of shoplifting that are designed to protect the safety of both our employees and our customers. We are fully investigating the incident that occurred at our Westheimer Road store yesterday afternoon. The employee who was involved in this incident will be suspended pending the outcome of our investigation.

Meanwhile, the drugstore chain does accept returns without a receipt, but only if the customer provides ID and with the approval of a manager.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist