Guard Charged in Shoplifting Death
D E T R O I T, July 6, 2000 -- A private security guard was charged todaywith involuntary manslaughter in the suffocation death of a blackman last month outside a department store.
The charge against Dennis Richardson, a guard for the Lord andTaylor store at Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, came a day afterthousands of protesters rallied outside the store. They suggestedthe June 22 death of Frederick Finley had racial overtones, thoughthe suspect also is black.
Finley was in the Lord & Taylor store with friends and familywhen surveillance cameras allegedly recorded some members of thegroup shoplifting. Finley’s 11-year-old stepdaughter removed abracelet from a counter and left the store without paying for it,prosecutors said in a statement.
Outside, security workers tried to question the girl and Finleyintervened, prosecutors said. During an ensuing confrontation withFinley, Richardson used a neck hold to subdue the Detroit man,ultimately causing his death, the statement said.
“Under all the circumstances, the duration and amount of forceused by Richardson was excessive, and probable cause clearlyexists” for the involuntary manslaughter count, Prosecutor John D.O’Hair said in the statement.
Prosecutors and Dearborn police did not return telephonemessages today seeking further detail.
The manslaughter count carries a possible 15 years in prison and$7,500 fine.
‘We Kill For $4’Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who represents Finley’s family, saidhe believed a second-degree murder charge would have been moreappropriate.
“Mr. Richardson didn’t just put him in a choke hold. Mr.Richardson put a chain around Mr. Finley’s neck and pulled it untilhe crushed his trachea,” Fieger told Detroit radio station WWJ.
An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 protesters led by the Rev. AlSharpton rallied Wednesday outside the store, some carrying signswith messages such as “Racism is alive and well. We kill for $4 inMichigan” and “God is watching you.”
Two autopsies showed Finley died of asphyxia due to suffocation.
Racial Profiling SuggestedPolice said at least some of the guards who were involved areblack, including Richardson, 29, of Detroit. Protesters accusedLord & Taylor of having black security workers watch minorityshoppers to avoid the appearance of discrimination or racialprofiling.
Prosecutors said that suggestions that some of the other guardsinvolved in the incident contributed to Finley’s death could not besubstantiated.Store spokeswoman LaVelle Olexa declined to comment on theprotest, citing the police investigation and a civil suit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan routinely fieldscomplaints by minority shoppers who say they were treateddifferently, said Michael Steinberg, the agency’s legal director.
“It’s a major problem in the malls or suburbs, whereAfrican-Americans feel they’re suspect the minute they walk into astore,” he said. “Every once in a while, there’s a high-profilecase like this one which raises awareness of the problem.”
He said he was not aware of any such complaints relating toFairlane or its Lord & Taylor store before Finley’s death.
About 0.4 percent of Dearborn’s 89,286 residents are black,according to the 1990 U.S. Census. Many of Fairlane’s customers areblack, many coming from mostly black Detroit.