MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A video that has gone viral on Facebook shows a wild sequence of events unfolding inside of a Memphis Family Dollar store.
It started when five people tried to steal merchandise from a Family Dollar on Jackson Avenue.
Video, captured by a customer, shows the group carrying out handfuls of merchandise and trying to walk over a table as they escape the store at 910 Jackson Avenue in North Memphis.
According to the store’s Asset Prevention Specialist Johnny Bluitt, an employee’s son tackled one of the suspects.
“Man, it was mayhem,” Bluitt said. “They fight. So then I came in and tried to calm him down.”
The video shows Bluitt holding one of the suspects in a chokehold to keep him from escaping while employees wait on police.
“I got kids. Please, let me go...I don’t wanna go to jail,” the suspect can be heard screaming.
Family Dollar employees locked the siding doors to keep that suspect inside and keep the other suspects from returning. But, those thief’s went to their car and got weapons to help rescue their friend, Bluitt said.
“So, they got to busting the windows in and I thought it was a gunshot,” Bluitt said.
Bluitt said that a female busted the window, using a long stick, eventually allowing the suspect inside to escape.
A day later, the front door of the store was boarded up. Memphis Police said that the business suffered $6,000 worth of damage.
And, Bluitt could soon be out of a job. He told FOX13 that he’s been suspended for violating store policy.
“I was hired for what you all told me to do,” Bluitt said. “But, I believe they can take more preventative safety measures to ensure the safety of their employees which is not what they are doing.”
Bluitt said that Family Dollar employees need defense training or protection to prevent robberies from happening.
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