Home Depot
Security Guards Grabbed Lumber and Harassed Me Over Receipt Check

On April 16 at 5:51 P.M., after a checkout wait of more than 30 minutes, I had gone just three feet toward the exit when a security guard asked for my receipt. I said, "No, not today." He took two 12-foot boards from my cart and said he had to see the receipt.

I asked whether he was detaining me for shoplifting. He said, "No sir, I need to see your receipt." I took the lumber back, set it on my cart, and said, "I already told you, that is not going to happen."

Out in the parking lot he seized the lumber once more. I told him to phone the police and said I would have him arrested for holding me against my will and for stealing my property.

He signaled for backup. As my girlfriend and I walked to our vehicle, one of five security guards now trailing us harassed, threatened and verbally abused us again and again. He directed crude insults and obscene names at me, and he also told me to return to my low paying job at Burger King.

I kept urging him to bring in the police to resolve it. The guards surrounded us at my truck in the lot and kept up the harassment, trying to provoke me into a physical fight.

An older guard took the lumber from the one most responsible for the abuse and returned it to me. The rest made obscene gestures as we drove off.

When I got home I phoned the store manager. He never asked for my name or number. He said their conduct was completely wrong and that he would handle it. I have no way of knowing whether anything was done.

I also called the main office, and they said a response would take 7-10 days.

On 4/19 I called the security company that Home Depot uses. The man told me the guards' actions were wrong and that the extremely vocal one was fired the next day.

Sadly, the report the guards involved filed with the security company was false. They stated that only three guards were present and that I was illegally parked in an unloading zone. In fact I was in a legal space in the middle of the lot.

I am now waiting for an answer from Home Depot, which I doubt will ever come.

Company: Home Depot
Country: USA
State: Louisiana
City: Harahan
Address: 5151 Citrus Blvd
Phone: 5047294400

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