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Good Samaritan paralyzed in Myrtle Beach purse snatching settles with Kmart, looks ahead
Kansas City Star ^ | January 25, 2014 Star+ sign in Subscribe to the Star Feedback Digital Star Read | David Wren

Posted on 01/25/2014 11:21:51 AM PST by ZULU

For Brenda Williams, the last four years and nearly three months have been a triumph of faith and forgiveness over self pity and hatred.

(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: goodsamaritan; pursesnatching

1 posted on 01/25/2014 11:21:51 AM PST by ZULU
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To: ZULU

What does Kmart have to do with it?

- it has money, so the shark lawyers sue the store, thinking that Kmart will be afraid to fight it or be called racist.


2 posted on 01/25/2014 11:25:57 AM PST by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible traitors. Complicit in the destruction of our country.)
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To: I want the USA back

If you read the full article, the purse snatcher first attacked a woman using the payphone in the store lobby in full view of store employees. When she failed to get that lady’s purse, the criminal then entered the store and attacked another elderly lady.

All in full view of employees who failed to call police or even management. Store security also failed to respond.

The woman’s claim is that events unfolded due to these failures to respond to an obvious threat to customer safety.


3 posted on 01/25/2014 11:42:08 AM PST by Valpal1 (If the police can t solve a problem with violence, they ll find a way to fix it with brute force)
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To: Valpal1

I’d imagine store employees are told “not to interfere.”


4 posted on 01/25/2014 11:52:08 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

I don’t know about Walmart, but the majority of stores and businesses all tell their employees not to get involved, other than to call security or the police. The stores and businesses open themselves up to a hell of a liability exposure by “getting involved.”


5 posted on 01/25/2014 11:58:55 AM PST by ought-six ( Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: ZULU

I’m not saying that Kmart didn’t provide adequate security, but why is it Kmart’s fault that a shopper decided to steal from a Kmart patron? If we start making every square foot of a store’s space liable to the owner, wouldn’t that necessarily be extortion? We take a risk, every time we leave our front door, in being robbed, hit by another car, attacked by a knockout perp, etc. Where does this end? If a kid beats up and robs a lady or old man on the sidewalk in front of my house, am I liable? Why are the perps no longer liable? Pretty soon, if I breathe in someone else’s space I will be sued, right? This is tyranny.

I wonder...being that this woman talks about her faith getting her through this...how about her church? Did they not offer to help? Everywhere I go there are collections for this person or that, who have had an accident, lost a house in a fire, etc. People reach out and help. Banks set up accounts for those who want to help someone in need. Churches do fundraisers and bake sales, etc. You’d have thought that someone in her sphere of friends and family would’ve have offered to get help. Just saying...


6 posted on 01/25/2014 12:05:58 PM PST by Shery (in APO Land)
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To: ought-six

My former fiancée worked at a Sears where she witnessed frequent thefts. She was told not to interfere if she did (though she was tiny, so she wasn’t likely to prove much of a threat). Of course, that Sears eventually went out of business.


7 posted on 01/25/2014 12:11:02 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: I want the USA back; ought-six

This is not WalMart, but KMart, which is going down the drain anyway because of its horrible customer service, non-existent stock (even if you want to buy something there, you can’t get it because they only have one shop-worn item), and dreary ugly stores, more and more often in the marginal part of town.

The very minimal staff is completely demoralized and disempowered. Even if you want to buy something there, you can’t pay for it because there are no checkers, so you dump the item and leave, and nobody ever sees this and offers to help you. My local KMart was so bad it closed about 2 years ago.

KMart owes this woman for their neglect and understaffing of a place that should have been a secure place, and I hope the modest settlement was at least enough to pay her bills.


8 posted on 01/25/2014 12:19:18 PM PST by livius
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To: ZULU

The settlement says she gets to star in their next singing genitals commercial?


9 posted on 01/25/2014 12:28:44 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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10 posted on 01/25/2014 12:36:57 PM PST by RedMDer (Happy with this, America? Make your voices heard. 2014 is just around the corner. ~ Sarah Palin)
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To: I want the USA back
My thoughts exactly..

The only person Kmart should be responsible for is the woman who's purse was taken. A good samaritan acts on their own.. Their CHOICE.
Kmart did not force her to chase the thief out of the store and grab on to her steering wheel.. That was her bad decision.. NOT KMARTS.
11 posted on 01/25/2014 12:39:51 PM PST by DivineMomentsOfTruth ("Give me Liberty or I'll stand up and get it for myself!")
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To: livius

We need more people like her. I remember when good character was generally considered a positive trait. It breaks my heart to see FReepers equating good character with stupidity.


12 posted on 01/25/2014 12:48:48 PM PST by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
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To: BykrBayb

Suing Kmart for the consequences of her dumb decision to grab onto the steering wheel of a moving car is not good character.


13 posted on 01/25/2014 1:27:02 PM PST by DivineMomentsOfTruth ("Give me Liberty or I'll stand up and get it for myself!")
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To: BykrBayb
Fagnant and Williams chased Johnson into the Kmart parking lot and, when Johnson got into her car, Williams reached through the driver’s side window and tried to remove the keys from the ignition. Johnson put the car in drive, dragging Williams for dozens of feet along the asphalt parking lot before running her over and leaving the scene.

Her intentions were very noble but this is not K-Mart's fault.

14 posted on 01/25/2014 1:34:01 PM PST by TigersEye (Stupid is a Progressive disease.)
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To: livius

The only thing missing from my local K-Mart is tumbleweeds blowing down the aisles. I was looking for something in electronics and the man working in that department was leaning on the counter with a dazed, almost suicidal expression on his face. Very sad.


15 posted on 01/25/2014 1:43:36 PM PST by beelzepug (if any alphabets are watchin', I'll be coming home right after the meetin')
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To: Shery

“...but why is it Kmart’s fault that a shopper decided to steal from a Kmart patron...”

For only one reason—Kmart has the deep pockets. The librat trial lawyers love this kind of stuff.


16 posted on 01/25/2014 1:44:49 PM PST by SgtHooper (If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.)
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To: TigersEye

Not entirely anyway. It’s mostly the fault of the thief. I don’t think it’s right to blame the whole episode on the only person who did what was right.


17 posted on 01/25/2014 2:33:22 PM PST by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
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To: SgtHooper

Nope try again. Two major reason Kmart had to settle....

Even an expert hired by Kmart took a dim view of the stores employees’ failure to intervene in the purse snatching.

“It is my further opinion that the failure to act by Kmart personnel are not consistent with widely accepted principles of security management and breach the standard of care,” security consultant John Villines said in his report, which is included with court documents.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/25/4774564/good-samaritan-paralyzed-in-myrtle.html#storylink=cpy

A memo from a Kmart vice president to store managers, obtained by Williams’ lawyer, said the retailer’s loss-control staff is responsible for customers’ safety in store parking lots, and cited purse snatchings as one of the incidents that loss-control could be called on to handle.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/25/4774564/good-samaritan-paralyzed-in-myrtle.html#storylink=cpy


18 posted on 01/25/2014 2:33:54 PM PST by Orange1998
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To: BykrBayb

I don’t see how K-Mart is at fault for much of anything but I sure can’t see how anyone but the unfortunate Good Samaritan is responsible for the decision to chase down a criminal and dive into the driver’s window of the car. She made her choices.


19 posted on 01/25/2014 2:41:30 PM PST by TigersEye (Stupid is a Progressive disease.)
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