Thanks to the video work of Oakland vlogger Matt Gratz, who lives next to the store, Whole Foods Oakland security guards are caught on camera making a mistake that could cost the 55,000-square-foot store at 27th and Oakland Avenue thousands of dollars in a lawsuit.
The two guards, not black, are caught on camera holding the African American woman, who’s obviously upset that she is being manhandled over a misunderstanding, and this happened on Friday, February 1st – the day of the same night the First Friday shooting happened. The receipt she has is in full view in the video, yet the two ham-handed private security men waste no time in trying to make an arrest and accuse her of theft.
This was totally mishandled. If they thought something was wrong, the police should have been called, but the bottom line is she has a receipt.
Oakland Police Don’t Solve Problem
When the police arrived, they didn’t solve the riddle of her having a receipt in her hand. The one problem here is that what really happened is not on camera. But the other problem is that the young lady should have just tried to remain as calm as possible. There was too much emotion out there, and the female security person who works for Whole Foods had this ‘wave the hand and get rid of her’ attitude.
This is not how issues are to be solved, but we seem to think it’s OK in our society. We need a readjustment of procedures.
Whole Foods Issue Not Clear
In fairness to Whole Foods, how the woman wound up in this position is not on this camera. The wild card is the receipt. If she was taking something that belonged to another person, why is that person not outside saying “she took my groceries”?
Something really amiss here.
Stay tuned.
Stay tuned.