Grocery Store Security Guard Body-Slams 16-Year-Old Black Girl Suspected of Shoplifting

The guard is facing no charges for his use of excessive force.

grocery carts ohio story
Getty

Image via Getty/Michal Fludra

grocery carts ohio story

A security guard at a Kroger grocery store in Toledo, Ohio body slammed a 16-year-old girl he allegedly caught shoplifting. Tevin Ford, a local resident, captured the excessive use of force with his cell phone. In the video, other shoppers can be heard yelling at the 32-year-old guard Tom Clingo as he assaults the teenager.

“He thinks that’s his job? To handle a little girl like that? Are you crazy?” one person says. Clingo claims that he suspected her of stealing “miscellaneous items,” according to a report by Toledo’s The Blade. “Tell him to get off of her!” another customer yells in the video.

By Monday afternoon, the video Ford took had been viewed about 145,000 times on Facebook and shared by more than 3,500 people. Since at several points during the altercation the girl tries to defend herself to get away from Clingo, she’s been handed a robbery charge. Meanwhile, Clingo has yet to be charged with any crime.   

The Toledo Police Department made it clear that Clingo is a store security guard and not affiliated with the department.  “If people were upset with the manner in which he acted, they should contact Kroger, I suppose," Sgt. Kevan Toney told The Blade.

Kroger declined to comment on the incident, telling The Blade, “everything’s in the report.” 

The video is blocked from being embedded, due to a violence restriction, but you can watch it here.

Latest in Life