Police Seeking Wal-Mart Shoppers Who Trampled Employee

NEW YORK — Police are reviewing surveillance videos of a post-Thanksgiving shopper stampede that trampled a suburban Wal-Mart worker to death, but they acknowledge it may be difficult to bring criminal charges.

Nassau County police and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said no new information was available Saturday on the employee's brutal death, which rattled shoppers even as they flocked to the Valley Stream store a day later.

"It felt a little freakish," customer Ellie Berhun, 48, told the Daily News. "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."

Police said the temporary worker, Jdimytai Damour, was mowed down as about 2,000 bargain-hunters surged into the store at Friday's 5 a.m. opening, leaving a metal portion of the door frame crumpled like an accordion.

Other workers were knocked to the ground as they tried to rescue Damour, and customers simply stepped over him and kept shopping even as the store announced it was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or treatment for minor injuries. The store, about 20 miles east of Manhattan, closed for several hours but reopened Friday afternoon.

The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday because it has traditionally marked the point when a throng of shoppers pushes stores into profitability for the year.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said it added staffers and outside security workers and put up barricades to try to prepare for the crush. But police spokesman Detective Lt. Michael Fleming said Friday that security was inadequate for a scene he called "utter chaos."

Criminal charges are possible, but identifying anyone in the store's videos may prove difficult, Fleming said.

Damour, 34, came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store, Wal-Mart said.

A woman reported being trampled by overeager customers at a Wal-Mart opening Friday in Farmingdale, about 15 miles east of Valley Stream, Suffolk County police said. She suffered minor injuries but finished shopping before filling the report, police said.

Items on sale at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart included a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" for $9.

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AP retail writers Anne D'Innocenzio and Mae Anderson contributed to this report.

Comments

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

Samsung 50"plasma television,it's to die for(or kill for).I know Walmart is the main culprit because their security wasn't up to par,but what's with these shoppers,it was pure mob action instigated outside the store that started this and that's where a security camera would show culpability.

[whosyourdaddy]

Have you seen some report or evidence that Walmart security wasn't up to par?

[4everdem]

Did you read the article??

But police spokesman Detective Lt. Michael Fleming said Friday that security was inadequate for a scene he called "utter chaos."

[jhb90277]

Yeah. I read the news story above. 2,000 people shoving and rushing the door, then breaking it down shows that security wasn't up to par.

[emh]

yes. someone died. res ipsa loquitur.

[Spud777]

What's with the cabal that did this, the economy is terrible, but the people who were involved in this are worse. Pathetic.

[meeneecat]

This is horrible, tragic, disgusting that people can plow over this poor man just so they can shop. I hope they find the people who trampled him, I also hope they squeeze every drop they can out of that evil corporate behemoth.

Did anyone else notice that at the end of this article they put a freakin' ad for wallmart?! Anyone find that strange? Actually it's despicable, since I bet Wall-mark, knowing this would be a big story today, and knowing how much shoppers "care" about the life of another human being, probably PAID to have the ad put in at the end of the story. At least I wouldn't be surprised. Why else would that ad be there?

[rektruax]

Maybe they were all just mad because the poor guy said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas".

[vschicago]

the police should be putting (in hancuffs) all the Wal-mart managers responsible for the tragedy that occurred to that young man and his family. then and only then should they pursue the Wal-mart shoppers that were nvolved.

[whosyourdaddy]

Why would anyone "handcuff" a Walmart manager for the actions of a thuggish, out of control mob. What sort of prior experience or knowledge would have led them to believe that shoppers might tear the doors off the hinges and trample four people.

[vschicago]

their prior experience is the reaction they witnessed over the years on every "black Friday". lock up the most responsible: wal-mart executives

[formerprosecutor]

we have a charge called "depraved indifference"; i could make that fit.

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

Part2
Sometimes we have to be saved from ourselves,all we get out of these cheap prices is the ability to stuff our faces with cheap processed foods until we tip the scales at 300 and pay outrageous prices for good old American made drugs to treat our self inflicted obesity driven diseases(funny how we don't see sale prices there).Whe­n I say we have to save ourselves what I mean is we have to bring back tariffs on products produced by slave labor countries to account for higher salaries paid here that allow us to support our families.W­e are at a tipping point and there are no winners on the race to the bottom our current economy endorses.

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

Part 1
Walmart always finds a way to pass on the savings to its customers,sometimes little things like scrimping on security,other times not paying overtime.I­t's a two edged sword when Walmart opens a new store,first it causes all other mom and pop businesses to close,then it adds more low paying jobs to the market.I don't think Walmarts product quality is any different than most other department stores,almost everything we buy here in the USA is made in China or some other backwater country emulating China.

Everything in our approach to doing business nowadays is based on more production,be it factory work,trans­portation,­finance,et­c.There is no way Americans can compete with countries who think slave labor,prison labor and child labor are viable business models.Whe­n we shop at Walmart and get discount pricing,it's no different than having voting privileges in China supporting this business model.We all know this to be true,but we still look for the cheapest price,no matter who we have to trample to get it.

[vschicago]

This is how sad this whole shopping frenzy has become:
"A woman reported being trampled by overeager customers at a Wal-Mart opening Friday in Farmingdale, about 15 miles east of Valley Stream, Suffolk County police said. She suffered minor injuries but finished shopping before filling the report, police said."

Why would any sane person continue to shop after being trampled upon? People, people, people when will we finally become human beings? We are beings alright, but not humans (humanity).

[cybertoothcat]

For the privilege of NOT shopping at WalMart I gladly pay the asking price. Avoiding WalMart is one of the best choices any American can make. It may be too late to send WalMart packing as the Germans did, but we ought to give them a good run for their money. Resist!

[javaz]

Has any news outlet posted where to send donations to the family of this man?

I would like to donate to the man's family instead of spending the money in Walmart.

My condolences to the victim's family.

[CologneCitizen]

A few years ago Walmart tried to get into the German market. They opened some stores and even managed to get the same awful smell inside as they have in America. From the beginning they messed with our labor unions, paying their employees salaries on which you could rather die than live. The Germans never "bought'" the Walmart concept which is selling junk for low prices under one roof. After 2 years Walmart gave in, closed their last store and left for good.

[toypiano]

Congratulations, you're lucky. One is due to be built nearby to us and we've been fighting it for 4 years. Looks like their construction plans are moving forward despite the negative environmental impact studies, community protests and city council attempts to stop it (too little, too late). 'Cause, you know, the world needs more places to buy cheap plastic crap from China. Nothing personal against the Chinese.

We've exhausted all of our options for trying to prevent it. Mall*Wart is just too powerful. So now our streets are being torn up and reconfigured to accommodate increased traffic, and the trees are coming down. We'll be moving soon as we don't want to be around while it's built or after it opens.

[TruthaboutIraq]

Soon there will be no more Mom and Pop stores in america...­........ju­st a vast ugly country of gaudy billboards and ugly box stores....­..........­..

The people here I know that went to America on vacation were very disappointed. Never again, they said.

[TruthaboutIraq]

Here in Holland we still value and protect the Mom and Pop stores in the villages..

[Javarod]

They didn't buy into it, as they don't suffer from the same problems our society does. In this case, shoppers broke down the doors, they estimate 2000 people were waiting to get in, and even first responders had trouble with being jostled and nearly trampled. I'm not a WalMart cheerleader, but i'm not blaming them for this, they're not the only one hyping black Friday, the local paper on T-day was triple its normal size, all ads for black Friday, and some stores were opening as early as 4A to capitilize on it. The reason for this is the same reason our economy is tanking, long ago the US reshaped its economy and culture into a consumer one, got buy stuff, especially at Christmas, mortage your house, you gotta buy the right gifts damn the prices.

Heck, consider the commonality of the expression buying into something, that tells you a lot about our society here. I've been wondering ifn in the end this recession will prove to be a good thing, perhaps we'll learn to think before opening our wallets, and sock away some money in the bank. And reindeer are going to fly out of my nose. Oh well, one can hope.

[JerseyBob]

Detective Fleming is out of order when he adduces that criminal charges could be bought against Walmart customer!

This is entirely Walmart's fault. It knew or should have known that a riot (which this stampede meets the definition of) could likely occur. Sure go after the customers for criminal prosecution. Customers who could have been killed because of the precarious circumstances that Walmart allowed to develop. The family of the deceased should sue and not settle out. An example must be set.

Walmart had an obligation to protect the customers from a likely event. It did not do this. Good crowd control means more than rope lines and customer herding. It means spending money to hire responsible persons to manage the prospective customers. There was absolutely nothing wrong with what the customers did; they were kids in a schoolyard and the teachers weren't around. Although the man who died was a contract worker, he was for all intents and purposes a Walmart employee.

The police are so not professional when they imply that the customers were criminal. The police are dead wrong here. Do they moonlight at Walmart? Do spouses work there? Something is wrong!

[samandally]

Jersey,Ya right, stick it to the man, even when a bunch of idiots cannot act like civil humans.Hop­e they can get some good facial recognition from those pictures. By the way, I am not a Walmart shopper.

[LucasFibonacci]

The police are not wrong to look at the video. Maybe there were some members of the crowd that were clearly responsible. But much more likely they will see that the tramplers were themselves caught up in the crowd. The force from behind was probably so great that they had no choice but to trample. So blame those at the back of the crowd who were doing the pushing? Also not likely to lead to a conviction. After all, who was actually pushing more than the allowed amount of normal pushing? How on earth can you make a charge like that stick? Ultimately, it seems that you can only lay blame on those that incited the crowd and those who failed to provide the security. But isn't this point obvious? I don't see why there's so much nonsensical discussion about this issue.

[whosyourdaddy]

It's difficult not to suspect that if there were a union in that store most folks on this site would be far less inclined to blame the store for the behavior of the mob.

[FdeBear]

I hope they identify those who heedlessly trampled this man. I hope they find Walmart criminally and civilly liable. I hope retailers will stop their "door busting" rhetoric and promotions without considering the safety issues involved. I hope Americans will wake up from this cultural perversion of Christmas as some consumer orgy. I hope that the needless and absurd death of this low wage employee will not be in vain. Vindication is in order here. This is so g(_&d#$% HIDEOUS AND STUPID!

[matt832]

I want these people charged and convicted of manslaughter. It really wouldn't be that hard to track them down, just go through all the credit card sales that morning and match the IDs to the people on the video. These peole deserve to be in prison for a good long time.

I wont shop Walmart either as many have posted here. I have many other choices, Target for one, regional Meijer's stores for another, not to mention KMart. All good options to stay away from Walmart.

[OrganOfThought]

Yes, I agree. Formal charges should be brought on these people.

Has anyone seen how many cameras there are at Walmart? Almost every isle has one. Every register has one. The doors have several. Next time you are there, look up and see all the black spheres.

I think some investigators could simply track the movement of one trampler at a time all the way through the store and get several good views and make it public. I think people would turn them in. I had a friend of mine who had her credit cards stolen. Walmart cameras back tracked the transaction at the register and had video of the crook walk all the way through the store and out the doors to the car and got an image of the car plates.

This can be done. I would guess that it took at least 10 tramplers to kill this man. More than half should be caught for sure.

[provgrays]

If these "Black Friday" events resut in death and injury, then they have to stop.

On line vouchers for the low priced goodies might mitigate the need for crazed stampedes at Walmart next time.

[Grannysue]

My God what's wrong with people, tell me what in the hell is worth buying that can be traded for a life? Apparently some kind of cheap crap at walmart. The people on the tape should be prosecuted and I believe they should ban the whole black Friday crap. If you must get up at four a.m. and stand in line like a heard of cattle, then stampede the store, there's something wrong with you mentally! Unfortunately, this poor sole was working this temp job, probably because he couldn't find any other work or maybe he was working two jobs to survive! Merry Christmas, boy people sure don't remember why we celebrate this holiday do they?

[Hamatreya]

a 'poor sole' who lived on the bottom of WM's shoe