Clerks rip clothes off shoplifting suspect in NYC

[October 22, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A worker at a 7-Eleven in Brooklyn has lost his job after he and other store employees were recorded ripping the clothes off a suspected shoplifter.

The video was recorded by a bystander Wednesday, and then promptly posted on the Internet.

It begins with two clerks dragging the man back into the store and continues as they try to wrestle him into submission.

In the process, his shirt is ripped off, his pants fall down and he is left struggling in his boxers. One worker appears to bite the man on the shoulder. Another tries to yank him up by his underwear.

Through it all, the man shouts "I got nothing, man!" while disbelieving patrons alternate between laughing and shouting at the clerks to let the man go.

"Somebody call the police. This is ridiculous!" one patron shouts.

A 7-Eleven spokeswoman told reporters the chain found the video horrifying. The company fired one worker and will retrain two others.

Police said the shoplifting suspect was already wanted in another case. He faces charges including robbery and assault.

[Associated Press]

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