Deacon and Pastor Handcuffed in Walmart Accused of Stealing Defective Television
A deacon and a church pastor who were handcuffed and detained while trying to return a faulty television to Walmart are suing the retailer for racial discrimination.
Dennis Stewart and Terence Richardson were at a Conroe, Tex., store September 10, 2020, when Walmart employees accused the men of stealing the television they had come to return. The men allege in their lawsuit that despite having a receipt for the purchase, Walmart employees called police who detained and handcuffed the pair.
The men were kept in the store while employees took an hour to examine the store-issued receipt, and that four white police officers "approached them from behind and instructed them to put their hands on their head, ordered them not to move, searched their bodies and emptied their pockets, and handcuffed them as criminals in plain view of everyone at the vicinity.”
After the deacon and the pastor were freed of the handcuffs, they claim a female Walmart employee screamed obscenities at them to take the TV and to get the "f--- out of this store, and never come f---ing back."
Despite having a receipt, Stewart was not permitted to exchange the faulty television or get a refund for his purchase.
The men were eventually released but not before being forced by store managers to “sign a paper requiring them never to return to the store or they would be arrested, and the store still refused to honor the agreement to accept the returned television.”
Walmart provided a statement to NBC, saying in part: "We do not tolerate discrimination and take allegations like this seriously. When the claims were brought to our attention in April of this year, we investigated them. We are not getting into further detail given the litigation and will respond as appropriate with the court."
Stewart and Richardson allege in the federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas that they were wrongfully imprisoned and discriminated against due to their race. They’ve requested a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages.
