Crest Foods grocery store security guard arrested for assault with a weapon
OKLAHOMA CITY OK May 16, 2022 A Crest Foods grocery store security guard is facing charges for allegedly beating up and tasing a customer.
Shawn Anderson has been charged for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the incident which happened at the Crest Foods at 10601 South May Ave., on September 6, 2021.
Court documents and an Oklahoma City Police Department incident report say Edis Hadzialic was at the store to return some items he had bought. He was denied the return, but then went to buy more food items.
The documents say after his purchase, Anderson, who was a security guard at the store, asked Hadzialic to leave, but then, “for unknown reasons,” blocked him from exiting. Hadzialic tried to walk around him multiple times, but Anderson kept blocking him.
Anderson then, “for unknown reasons,” tried to detain Hadzialic. Hadzialic attempted to break out of this, and that’s when Anderson, along with two other employees, forced him to the ground and in the scuffle seriously injured him.
At one point, Anderson appears to tase Hadzialic in the neck for 17 seconds, according to the court affidavit.
Hadzialic is now suing Crest Foods, Anderson, and the other employees.
KFOR spoke with his attorneys Dan Markoff of Adler, Markoff, and Associates and Chad Kelliher of Fulmer Sill on Thursday, the day the lawsuit was filed.
“You shouldn’t go into a store to buy goods, you shouldn’t go into a store to return something you bought earlier and be harassed and assaulted when you did nothing wrong,” Kelliher said.
“It’s ridiculous,” Markoff added. “It’s just completely ridiculous that something like this would happen.”
They’re suing for assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring/training/supervision/retention and punitive damages.
“In this assault, he broke his nose, broke several of his teeth, dislocated his kneecap, among other injuries,” Kelliher said of Hadzialic’s injuries. “None of that was necessary.”
“It’s been a rough period of time for him,” Markoff said. “It’s been extraordinarily difficult. He’s been through surgery because of this. He’s recovering from that. And it takes time to get your life back together.”
Markoff and Kelliher said now that the case has been filed, they await Crest Food’s response to the lawsuit.
KFOR reached out to Crest Foods by phone and email for comment for several days but have not gotten any response.
KFOR
