A Ring doorbell camera captured the shocking moment when a person who was ostensibly a Dollar General employee used her car to chase down and then hit a man allegedly fleeing after stealing numerous goods from her store.
The incident, which occurred a little before noon on May 11, shows a man on a bicycle riding along a sidewalk in Fresno, California. Then, suddenly, a white SUV speeds into the frame and strikes the alleged thief, knocking him off his bike and tossing the supposedly stolen goods about: the impact from the car warped the front wheel of the bicycle, throwing the alleged thief to the ground and scattering sodas, bags of chips, and a bouquet of roses onto the driveway with him.
The two then got in a swearing match, screaming vulgarities at each other while each tried to recover as many of the goods as possible. The woman took the bicycle basket with the supposedly stolen goods in it, along with what other items she could gather, while the man also tried to scoop up what he could.
Here’s the video of the incident that was shared:
The Daily Mail quotes a man named Eric, who owns the Ring doorbell camera that captured the shocking footage, as saying, “I actually was totally shocked when it happened. I watched it live on my Ring camera while I was at work and could not believe that I was watching it unfold in my driveway. The more I watched the video, the funnier it got.”
Continuing, Eric added, “As of right now, I do not know if the police ever got involved. No one has reached out to me and I’m not sure what happened to the Dollar General employee who I also feel bad for as well. I feel bad for both of them. It appears the thief was stealing groceries and also just happened to grab a bouquet of flowers for the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday.”
He also said, “For someone to steal groceries times must be pretty tough so I feel for him as well. In California, there are a lot of roll-out shopping cart thefts and nothing is done to these thieves. This employee just got tired of it and decided to take matters into her own hands. It’s unfortunate that the laws in California do not penalize the criminals that’s why it is so rampant here in California.”
Eric’s views on the subject are likely similar to what many Americans likely think when they see incidents such as this: while they feel somewhat bad for the people stealing because of the dire circumstances that led them to that, they also understand why people who suffer when goods are stolen lash out violently to protect their property.
Despite that understanding, what the manager did was probably illegal. Such is what many people commented on a clip of the video going around on Twitter. One commenter, for example, said, “Now the guy who was stealing can sue the company, and her. That wasn’t smart. Regardless of how we may feel it was justified, the laws aren’t set up to allow for this kind of retaliation. She could even see jail time as that could be considered attemped murder with a deadly weapon.“
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