Whole Foods' security guard is fired after 'slamming a customer into concrete pillars before choking him unconscious in bloody attack when he tried to pay with food stamps' 

  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
  • A Whole Foods Market security guard in Oakland has been fired after he allegedly assaulted a customer Thursday night
  • The attack reportedly began inside the store and an eyewitness shared disturbing images of the bloodied victim to Facebook
  • Witness Zoe Marks says the victim was not 'shouting' or  being 'violent' before the guard slammed the man into concrete pillars
  • Marks says the guard put the shopper into a chokehold and 'suffocated' him before throwing him on the ground outside unconscious
  • Police are investigating the incident and the victim is in stable condition at a local hospital  

By Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:50 EST, 4 September 2015 | Updated: 21:30 EST, 4 September 2015

An armed security guard working at the Whole Foods Market in Oakland, California has been fired after he reportedly beat one customer to a bloody pulp Thursday night.

The alleged violent assault began inside the store located on Bay Place near Lake Merritt around 9:30pm, according to the store's spokeswoman Beth Krauss.  

Zoe Marks, an eye witness to the attack who is in the United States on a visit from Edinburgh, Scotland, shared disturbing images of the victim and her account of the incident to Facebook. 

In an interview with the Oakland Tribune, Marks said that she saw the argument between the cashier and the victim as he was trying to use an EBT card, which is a food stamp card that operates like a debit card, to buy food from the store.

Horrific: An armed security guard working at the Whole Foods Market in Oakland, California has been fired after he reportedly beat the man pictured above to a bloody pulp Thursday night

Horrific: An armed security guard working at the Whole Foods Market in Oakland, California has been fired after he reportedly beat the man pictured above to a bloody pulp Thursday night

Shocking: Zoe Marks, an eye witness to the attack who took three graphic photos of the victim, says the attack began inside of the store 

Shocking: Zoe Marks, an eye witness to the attack who took three graphic photos of the victim, says the attack began inside of the store 

Marks said that the victim was not 'shouting' or 'violent' and that he wasn't threatening anyone. 

'He wasn't shouting at anyone. He wasn't violent or disruptive,' Marks said of the customer to the Tribune. 

'There was no threat from him to any of the customers or employees. (We) felt safe until the security guard attacked him.' 

On Facebook, Marks described the 'violent assault' by saying that the guard 'slammed' the victim against 'concrete pillars.'

Tragic: Marks says the victim was not 'shouting' or 'violent' and that he wasn't threatening anyone inside of the store. She shared the image above to her Facebook of the victim being attended to by emergency officials

Tragic: Marks says the victim was not 'shouting' or 'violent' and that he wasn't threatening anyone inside of the store. She shared the image above to her Facebook of the victim being attended to by emergency officials

Zoe Marks, an eyewitness to the violent assault at Whole Foods Market, shared the above post on Facebook about the incident with three graphic  photos

Zoe Marks, an eyewitness to the violent assault at Whole Foods Market, shared the above post on Facebook about the incident with three graphic  photos

In the post, she added that the guard put the shopper into a chokehold and 'suffocated' him before throwing him on the ground unconscious. 

Marks claims that the guard allegedly locked the man out of the store even though he was unconscious on the pavement. 

The graphic images Marks took of the victim have been widely shared across social media, with many people sending tweets to the Whole Foods Market Twitter account, questioning what the store was doing to address this situation. 

In one response to a user, a Whole Foods' official tweeted 'We're moving quickly to gather the facts, we want to make it clear that we take a zero tolerance approach to violence.'

Above is the Whole Foods Market in Oakland where the horrific assault took place on Thursday night

Above is the Whole Foods Market in Oakland where the horrific assault took place on Thursday night

An official wrote the above response to a user on Twitter about the incident

An official wrote the above response to a user on Twitter about the incident

An official wrote the above response to a different user on Twitter about the security guard being removed

An official wrote the above response to a different user on Twitter about the security guard being removed

In another tweet, an official wrote that 'We are taking this very seriously. The security guard involved in incident has been permanently removed from all WFM stores.' 

Oakland police are investigating the incident and the identities of the victim and guard have not been publicly released.

Police say that the victim is in stable condition at a local hospital.  

 

 

 

Comments (0)

Share what you think

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now