A suspected shoplifter got in trouble this weekend in New York City. So did a security guard who allegedly attacked him.
Victor Roberson, 19, was charged with petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, according to The New York Daily News. Meanwhile, Century 21 security guard Wilson Acosta faces an assault charge.
Video from bystanders shows the absolutely frantic scene in which guards seem to apprehend Roberson.
“I can’t breathe,” Roberson says multiple times. “I can’t breathe.”
A man in a suit and tie tells the person recording the scene to walk away for their safety. A woman in white and pink clothes can be seen trying to intervene, but she is pulled away by what seems to be Century 21 employees. The woman, later identified as Roberson’s girlfriend Ezariah McFee, says she is pregnant.
Outraged bystanders get involved.
“What are you doing to this black man?” says a woman, who then says she is calling the police on the Century 21 employees.
A male bystander says that he has video of one of the employees of hitting Roberson. Once police are on the scene, a female bystander tells police she was walking by when it happened, and has it on video.
“Sir, I’m a civilian,” she tells an officer. “I was walking down the street, and saw them attacking this man, putting him in a chokehold. They hit a pregnant woman, and they punched him in the face.”
Roberson, who was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday, didn’t deny stealing two pairs of Prada slippers, which he said were Mother’s Day gifts for his own mom, and the mother of his 1-year-old daughter.
“I felt as though I never should’ve been beaten so bad for what I stole,” he told the Daily News.
As for Acosta, he’s been suspended from the department store.
“We take this situation very seriously,” Century 21 executive director of stores Larry Mentzer told the outlet.
[Screengrab via @IamMsJessica]