Security guard accused of pinning down suspected Safeway shoplifter before his death

TIGARD, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) - A security guard contracted by the Safeway supermarket chain is accused of holding down a suspected shoplifter – allegedly at some point, by the neck – before he later died at an Oregon hospital.

Tigard Police announced Thursday the Washington County District Attorney’s Office had accepted the case, KPTV reports.

Officers from the Tigard and King City Police Departments responded just before 10 a.m. Aug. 9 to a disturbance at a Safeway grocery store on Tigard’s south end, according to a police statement.

Upon arriving, officers learned a loss prevention worker had stopped a man who was suspected of shoplifting and was holding him on the ground. Witnesses reportedly told officers the man was being held by the neck at some point.

When officers arrived, the man, later identified as 46-year-old Michael Letendre, was unconscious.

Witnesses told officers the loss prevention worker began CPR. Then, another store employee took over. When officers arrived, they continued CPR until paramedics arrived to take Letendre to the hospital, where he died Aug. 16.

Police say the loss prevention worker was not an employee of Safeway but rather works for a contracted private security company. Because he has not yet been charged with a crime, police are not releasing his name.

A spokesperson from Safeway shared the following statement with KPTV:

“This involves an employee of one of our third-party security vendors. The vendor has informed us that the employee no longer works for them. We are unable to comment further as this is an ongoing investigation.”

The investigation continues.

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