$1.17M verdict after store managers cornered a shoplifter and he knocked down an 85-year-old shopper

A Russell County jury awarded $1,170,000 to the estate of an 85-year-old shopper who was knocked down by a fleeing shoplifter at a grocery store in Phenix City.

In March 2018 she was in the checkout line. She was a regular who shopped there several times a week. The meat manager had seen a man hide about $100 of meat in his pants and told the store manager. The two managers approached the man in the checkout aisle, where he was standing directly behind her, and boxed him in. She was trapped between her cart, the aisles and the man. When one manager put a hand on his arm, he pushed her down as he tried to get away. She struck her head and was taken to a hospital.

Before the incident she lived an active, independent life. Afterward she had daily migraines, dizziness, PTSD and night terrors. She died about four years later of unrelated causes, and her estate continued the case.

The estate sued the store’s operator on a negligent security theory, arguing that the confrontation was foreseeable and dangerous. A manager estimated that shoplifting happened about twice a week across the operator’s 15 area stores, though the company kept no records of it. The jury returned its verdict on July 23, 2025. No post-trial history had been reported when the verdict was published.