Wal-Mart

[Crunchie]

Yeah, even if he was a Chicago cop, I don't see how that would be relevant. Chicago cops have no jurisdiction in Forest Park.

[MOMAS2]

If you read the rules that govern secondary employment for Chicago police officers, it states that they cannot use their city issued badge, uniform, etc. identifying them as a police officer on a security detail.  I would assume it is to avoid liability issues such as in this case.  Besides, I would think Wal-mart has the deepest pockets but who knows.

[MOMAS2]

How is that any of your business how he or anyone else spends their money.  Besides, he spends more than enough in Berwyn on his tax bills.  How much does the current alderman spend on his tax bills.  Oops, I almost forgot, nothing.

Why is that?  Don't aldermen pay taxes?

Nope, not your current 6th ward alderman.

[Terri]

If you read the rules that govern secondary employment for Chicago police officers, it states that they cannot use their city issued badge, uniform, etc. identifying them as a police officer on a security detail.  I would assume it is to avoid liability issues such as in this case.  Besides, I would think Wal-mart has the deepest pockets but who knows.

Did you file the suit because "WalMart has the deepest pockets"?

[MOMAS2]

Why don't you ask Mr. Phelan why he filed the suit.  I would assume he filed the suit because it happened in their store.  What did you expect him to do, sue Target?

[MOMAS2]

Good luck in suing Chicago.

Then again, they have the deepest pockets, so why not?

I was merely replying to the above but who really cares how deep anyone's pockets are.

[MOMAS2]

Berwyn, IL -
Former 6th Ward Berwyn Alderman Michael Phelan has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart and store security personnel in connection with an incident last year.

The five-count lawsuit, filed July 27, seeks more than $50,000 in damages from Wal-Mart, a store security guard, a store loss prevention agent, the security firm that provided the guard and the city of Chicago. The counts include battery, negligence, malicious prosecution and false light.

Phelan was involved in a scuffle July 27, 2008, with store security guard and off-duty Chicago police officer Louis Jones at the chain's Forest Park location. Phelan was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, but both were dismissed in March after Wal-Mart failed to turn over a second surveillance video of the incident as requested by Phelan's attorney, Matt Karchmar.

"They had that video for months before they turned it over, and they were very well aware of what was on that tape," Phelan said. "I wasn't disorderly in the least bit. I stood there while that man tackled me."

The controversy began at about 1:15 p.m. July 27 when Jones apprehended Phelan on suspicion of shoplifting. A store manager later checked Phelan's shopping cart against his receipt and determined Phelan had not attempted to steal any items.

Jones told police he had forced Phelan to the ground and handcuffed him because Phelan refused to show him a receipt of his purchases and was causing a scene in the store. According to police reports, Jones stopped Phelan as he was exiting the store, 1300 Des Plaines Ave., and asked to see the receipt for proof that he purchased all of the items in his shopping cart.

"Phelan then crumpled the receipt into his hand refusing to show it, now causing a scene by loudly questioning store policy," according to the report.

Jones then pushed the cart to the side and tried handcuffing Phelan, according to police reports.

"Phelan resisted to the point of having to be taken to the ground to complete the handcuffing," according to police reports.

The reports also said Jones cut two fingers in the scuffle. Phelan was then taken to the store's back security office in handcuffs for questioning, the reports said.

Phelan vehemently denied the allegations and said videos taken at the front door and in the back room of the store would show he was unjustly handcuffed and the guard used excessive force.
Phelan said the security guard approached him from behind, jerked the cart away and started demanding to see his receipt while using profane language.

Phelan said he then asked to speak to a store manager before being tackled to the ground, handcuffed and taken to the back room, where he said he was threatened with physical violence.
Days after the incident, Phelan's attorney sent certified letters to the Forest Park Wal-Mart and the store's headquarters asking them to preserve and turn over the videotapes to Forest Park police. A subpoena for the videotapes was issued in October.

After months of waiting and several follow-up phone calls by the police, Wal-Mart produced the video from the front door but told a Forest Park judge March 4 the video from the back room had been destroyed, said Deputy Police Chief Tom Aftanas. Without the tapes, the judge ordered the charges dismissed.

"We've requested the tape several times, and it took quite a bit of calling on our part to get the tape of just the front of the store," Aftanas said in March. "In any case, whether it's a local ordinance or a criminal case, we shouldn't have to call continuously."

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore declined to state specifically what happened to the security tape or what procedures govern the handling of surveillance video.

"We have not been served with this case," Moore said. "When we are, we will review it, and we will respond to the court at the appropriate time. If, in the course of litigation, we are asked to provide the tapes, we will provide what we have."

After reviewing video that was turned over, Karchmar said the tape supports his client's version of events.

"It doesn't show him making any punches or any physical contact," Karchmar said. "And it shows him getting bodyslammed to the ground."

Phelan said he has incurred more than $11,000 in medical bills for injuries to his hand and back. The suit is seeking damages from Jones, Wal-Mart and Jones' employer, American Security, for battery and negligence.

He also believes publicity surrounding the incident may have cost him his seat on the Berwyn City Council. At the time, Phelan was serving his first term as 6th Ward alderman. He lost his bid for re-election in the April election to Ted Polashek.

The allegations made in the police report and the following media attention "caused great embarrassment, humiliation and damage to his reputation," the suit states.

The lawsuit also is seeking damages from Wal-Mart loss prevention agent Jermaine Simpson, who signed two disorderly conduct complaints against Phelan and told Forest Park police that Phelan had been a nuisance in the store before by behaving rudely and using racial slurs, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Simpson of malicious prosecution and false light.

"The statements they claim I made — me making racial statements — I never would ever make a statement like that," Phelan said. "I don't know why they felt they had to make that up."

[Classof67]

Berwyn, IL -
Former 6th Ward Berwyn Alderman Michael Phelan has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart and store security personnel in connection with an incident last year.

The five-count lawsuit, filed July 27, seeks more than $50,000 in damages from Wal-Mart, a store security guard, a store loss prevention agent, the security firm that provided the guard and the city of Chicago. The counts include battery, negligence, malicious prosecution and false light.

Phelan was involved in a scuffle July 27, 2008, with store security guard and off-duty Chicago police officer Louis Jones at the chain's Forest Park location. Phelan was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, but both were dismissed in March after Wal-Mart failed to turn over a second surveillance video of the incident as requested by Phelan's attorney, Matt Karchmar.

"They had that video for months before they turned it over, and they were very well aware of what was on that tape," Phelan said. "I wasn't disorderly in the least bit. I stood there while that man tackled me."

The controversy began at about 1:15 p.m. July 27 when Jones apprehended Phelan on suspicion of shoplifting. A store manager later checked Phelan's shopping cart against his receipt and determined Phelan had not attempted to steal any items.

Jones told police he had forced Phelan to the ground and handcuffed him because Phelan refused to show him a receipt of his purchases and was causing a scene in the store. According to police reports, Jones stopped Phelan as he was exiting the store, 1300 Des Plaines Ave., and asked to see the receipt for proof that he purchased all of the items in his shopping cart.

"Phelan then crumpled the receipt into his hand refusing to show it, now causing a scene by loudly questioning store policy," according to the report.

Jones then pushed the cart to the side and tried handcuffing Phelan, according to police reports.

"Phelan resisted to the point of having to be taken to the ground to complete the handcuffing," according to police reports.

The reports also said Jones cut two fingers in the scuffle. Phelan was then taken to the store's back security office in handcuffs for questioning, the reports said.

Phelan vehemently denied the allegations and said videos taken at the front door and in the back room of the store would show he was unjustly handcuffed and the guard used excessive force.
Phelan said the security guard approached him from behind, jerked the cart away and started demanding to see his receipt while using profane language.

Phelan said he then asked to speak to a store manager before being tackled to the ground, handcuffed and taken to the back room, where he said he was threatened with physical violence.
Days after the incident, Phelan's attorney sent certified letters to the Forest Park Wal-Mart and the store's headquarters asking them to preserve and turn over the videotapes to Forest Park police. A subpoena for the videotapes was issued in October.

After months of waiting and several follow-up phone calls by the police, Wal-Mart produced the video from the front door but told a Forest Park judge March 4 the video from the back room had been destroyed, said Deputy Police Chief Tom Aftanas. Without the tapes, the judge ordered the charges dismissed.

"We've requested the tape several times, and it took quite a bit of calling on our part to get the tape of just the front of the store," Aftanas said in March. "In any case, whether it's a local ordinance or a criminal case, we shouldn't have to call continuously."

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore declined to state specifically what happened to the security tape or what procedures govern the handling of surveillance video.

"We have not been served with this case," Moore said. "When we are, we will review it, and we will respond to the court at the appropriate time. If, in the course of litigation, we are asked to provide the tapes, we will provide what we have."

After reviewing video that was turned over, Karchmar said the tape supports his client's version of events.

"It doesn't show him making any punches or any physical contact," Karchmar said. "And it shows him getting bodyslammed to the ground."

Phelan said he has incurred more than $11,000 in medical bills for injuries to his hand and back. The suit is seeking damages from Jones, Wal-Mart and Jones' employer, American Security, for battery and negligence.

He also believes publicity surrounding the incident may have cost him his seat on the Berwyn City Council. At the time, Phelan was serving his first term as 6th Ward alderman. He lost his bid for re-election in the April election to Ted Polashek.

The allegations made in the police report and the following media attention "caused great embarrassment, humiliation and damage to his reputation," the suit states.

The lawsuit also is seeking damages from Wal-Mart loss prevention agent Jermaine Simpson, who signed two disorderly conduct complaints against Phelan and told Forest Park police that Phelan had been a nuisance in the store before by behaving rudely and using racial slurs, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Simpson of malicious prosecution and false light.

"The statements they claim I made — me making racial statements — I never would ever make a statement like that," Phelan said. "I don't know why they felt they had to make that up."

Will the video be on YouTube after the trial?  Sounds pretty entertaining in a Walmart sort of way.

[markweiner]

May have cost you the election?

May have damaged your reputation?

Please..........

As you have so eloquently stated at several City Council meetings, "I do not care what you think of me."

Hopefully, that is on a videotape, too.

Please subpoena me Mike as a character witness concerning your reputation. 

I will only tell the truth.

[MOMAS2]

Mr. Whiner,

Who cares if Mr. Phelan did not care what YOU thought of him.  Evidently he didn't give much thought to YOUR opinion of him.  You are a bitter little man.  Have a nice day.

[Mr. Daniel Lumis]

Why does reading this thread make me feel like I'm witnessing an argument with a ventriloquist's dummy?

[Crunchie]

It could have been worse. Phelan could have gotten in trouble at a Chinese Wal-Mart:

Woman beaten to death at China Wal-Mart: police
(AFP) – 4 days ago

BEIJING — A woman in eastern China was allegedly beaten to death by five employees of a Wal-Mart store who accused her of shoplifting, a police report and state media said Tuesday.

Police have arrested two employees from the store in Jiangxi province, while three others are being investigated, Jingdezhen city police said in a report on their website.

According to the report, the woman was beaten outside her home near the Wal-Mart on August 30 and died in a city hospital on Wednesday last week from injuries suffered during the beating.

Police said the five Wal-Mart employees had stopped the woman in the street and demanded to see her receipt, but she refused because she could not verify their identities, it said.

Following an argument, the five Wal-Mart employees began beating her, it said.

The English-language China Daily on Tuesday identified the victim as Yu Xiaochun, 37.

"They started to hit her because she didn't do what they said," the paper quoted her husband Chen Baolin as saying.

"I got there and tried to stop them but they kept beating her."

It was not immediately known if the woman had shoplifted, the paper said.

The beating intensified as she tried to telephone for help using her mobile phone, it added.

In a statement, Wal-Mart said it was "fully cooperating with the relevant authorities and will release further details as it is appropriate".

"We extend our condolences to the family of the deceased.... The incident and cause of death is the subject of an investigation."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jUcqst3ZW9cVVaQV7XKG3y8SYSIg

[renovatorbear]

Why does reading this thread make me feel like I'm witnessing an argument with a ventriloquist's dummy?

hahahha!  one of my all time favorite comments on this site! 

[rbain]

http://peopleofwalmart.com/

[Mike Phelan]

Wal-Mart money goes so much further in Texas.  Just saying...