Store Employee Dies Trying To Confront Shoplifters: Reports

SOUTH EL MONTE, CA — An employee died trying to confront shoplifters outside a store in the San Gabriel Valley, according to police and media reports.

The incident occurred around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 2000 block of Durfee Avenue in South El Monte, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release, adding the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim’s brother told KTLA the man was working at the family store — Giant Discount — when a group came in, grabbed merchandise and fled. The man, who KTLA was not naming Wednesday evening, chased and tried to stop them, but they struck him in the head and ran over the employee with a vehicle, the brother told the outlet.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police at 323-890-5500, or anonymously call 800-222-8477, download the P3 Tips app or visitlacrimestoppers.org, authorities said.