Family Of Alleged Shoplifter Killed In Stop & Shop Confrontation Calls For Release Of Security Video
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Friends and family members of the man who died following a confrontation with employees at a Stop & Shop in Brooklyn two weeks ago gathered Saturday to call for the release of the store's surveillance video from that day.
Demonstrators chanted outside the store on Flatbush Avenue, where 51-year-old Ralph Nimmons died on April 14 after being tackled by three store employees who told police he shoplifted a box of cake and other items.
Family members said Nimmons had a heart condition, and witnesses said he could be heard saying he couldn't breathe.
"I just want justice for my nephew," his uncle Bonezlee Nimmons told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
When police arrived, they found Nimmons unresponsive.
A medical examiner's report is pending and the district attorney's office said its investigation is active and ongoing.
"The family is looking for an indictment for manslaughter," family attorney Sanford Rubenstein said. "We also want to see the tape that we believe exists that's in the hands of management."
Stop & Shop released a statement Saturday, reading:
"We offer our sincere condolences to the family of Ralph Nimmons. We are all saddened by his death at one of our Brooklyn Stop & Shop stores on April 14. We have cooperated fully with the police and are continuing to do everything we can to aid their investigation."
Nimmons was living off an on at an apartment near the store and had recently fallen on hard times, his uncle said. He called his nephew gentle and friendly.
"He loved to laugh, he loved movies," he said. "He was doing security work. He liked to sell jewelry."
Funeral services will be held at English Brothers Funeral Home in Sheepshead Bay from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday.
