The owner of a Saskatoon FreshCo grocery store says he is “shocked” and “horrified” after an Indigenous woman was involved in an altercation with a security guard outside his store.
The incident on Wednesday outside the store on 33rd Street West was captured on video and posted on Facebook by Jade Acikahte.
The lengthy video, running over nine minutes, shows a woman on the ground with a man on top of her. She then gets up and sits in the driver’s seat of a vehicle where the man then gets on top of her again.
“As Métis owner and a father of two daughters this should of not happened ever,” said a Facebook post attributed to Chris Fowler, the owner of the store.
It was alleged the woman was shoplifting.
“Whether she shoplifted or not … she wasn’t being aggressive until the guy took her down. Did you see the video? He almost broke her arm,” said Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron.
“I’ve got a lot of anger. And had I been there watching, I would’ve kicked him right in the face while he had her down on the ground.”
Saskatoon police said they were called to the store at around 4 p.m. where officers found a 30-year-old female being detained by a loss prevention officer.
Police said an altercation between the two individuals had taken place, resulting in minor injuries to the loss prevention officer.
Cameron said the actions carried out on the woman “are beyond disturbing.”
“We will not tolerate the continued subjection of our women to indecencies and attitudes as if they were less important to society,” he said in a statement.
“We demand accountability.”
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He is calling for the loss prevention officer, who has not been identified, to be charged.
“This sad excuse of a man clearly assaulted her and needs to be held accountable for his disgusting actions,” Cameron said.
“We expect his immediate termination and charges to be laid against him by police today.”
In a Facebook post, FreshCo 33rd & Avenue C Saskatoon said it has ended its relationship with the security company. Global News has made multiple requests for them to identify the security company, but have not received a response.
“The behaviour shown on April 14th outside our store is not tolerated or a representation of our values,” said the post from the store.
“We continue to cooperate with officials as this incident is currently under investigation.”
FreshCo said it is also supporting its employees as “they work through this investigation.”
Police said the woman refused medical treatment and was taken into custody. She is charged with theft under $5,000 and assault.
A police spokesperson said officers continue to investigate.
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