A resident who has asked to remain anonymous, has alleged that a minor was assaulted after he was caught shoplifting at Florida Shoprite on the evening of Monday, 15 January.
She said there was a power failure of sorts at the supermarket just before 6pm. The manager instructed the security guards to let customers in regardless, so they could use their cellphone torches to shop with. A young boy, according to the complainant 10 years or younger, then took the opportunity to relieve the supermarket of some of its sweets under the cloak of darkness. He was subsequently caught. When the complainant saw the boy with the security guards she asked what was going on and they explained the incident. When she wanted to know what they were going to do about the matter one of the guards replied that they were ‘going to deal with him’.
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It was while she was shopping that she then heard the screaming. “I could hear the security guards beating him up in the storeroom. He was screaming. It was horrendous,” she said.
The Record contacted the store for comment but was told by the manager that she was not at liberty to comment and referred us to Shoprite’s head office.
They replied via email saying, “Shoprite would like to apologise to the customer for the poor shopping conditions experienced when the centre the supermarket operates in had a power failure and for a short period only vital systems continued to operate.
What the customer in fact heard at this time was a minor resorting to screaming tactics when confronted for concealing items not paid for. The child was not harmed in any way and was released into the mother’s care shortly after”.
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