Warning: video may be disturbing to some
The use of force by private security at Bloomingdale's has come into question after video shows a bloody takedown inside the department store.
On Thursday, customer Danny Scher was in the San Francisco store when he saw the scuffle. He thought he walked into a "gang fight" but then realized it was four loss prevention officers tackling a suspect. "I pulled out my camera because it just didn't seem right," Scher told KGO. "They seemed to be awfully aggressive—there was blood on the floor, on the tile."
The video shows four plainclothes security guards tackling a man on the floor, with his face very bloody. One of the guards tries to keep Scher from recording. The tackled man appears to be dazed from the pain as the guards tries to keep him from moving too much. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
According to SFPD, the man on the ground in the video has been charged twice before with shoplifting from that Bloomingdales. He was being asked to leave before the altercation occurred, and was not armed. He was not charged in this particular incident, nor has he filed charges against the guards.
When asked if it was a use of excessive force, SFPD spokesperson Albie Esparza said, "It's really hard to determine based on the video because you see what happens after the fact."
"It doesn't look pretty and it looks really bad, to be frank, but again, we don't know what the use of force was." The store is cooperating with the SFPD.
A viewer sent KGO a video of another confrontation the next day with Bloomingdale's security, in which they are, again, tackling a man to the ground. It is also being investigated by the SFPD.