Extending a hand of help seems to have landed some passersby in California in trouble, as they tried to assist a security man who, in turn, inflicted pain on those trying to help him. A video posted on Reddit shows three men attempting to retrieve a red basket loaded with groceries from an assailant.
One of the men had a security badge, suggesting he was the security guard at the scene, while the other two hefty men wore plain black t-shirts. Also present was a lady standing nearby, making a total of five people at the scene.
The group surrounded the man with the red basket, and the security guard appeared determined to seize it. He eventually succeeded, though some groceries spilled onto the ground. As the other two men tried to restrain the suspected thief, all three ended up on the floor. Immediately after they fell, the security guard pulled a pepper spray from his jacket pocket and used it, despite the fact that the two men assisting him were innocent bystanders.
As he sprayed, the lady quickly rushed toward him, desperately trying to stop him, while chaos unfolded on the floor with the struggling men. The video quickly gained traction on Reddit, as users questioned why the security guard acted so irrationally. “Alternate title: Man helps catch thief and gets pepper sprayed,” someone commented, correcting the video’s caption, which originally read, “Man fights to keep groceries and bottles he stole then gets pepper sprayed.”
Criticizing the guard, another wrote, “That’s not worth helping and getting pepper-sprayed like that.” One user pointed out that the pedestrians were the real ones handling the situation, “The guard wasn’t handling shit. The two pedestrians were doing everything while being maced by that milk bag of a man.”
As the backlash continued, another person added, “That dumb f*ck with the pepper spray. He got at least two people trying to help. Either way, Stealing groceries? ❌ Surviving? ✅.” A different user reminded people not to interfere in such cases: “The eternal reminder… If you see someone stealing food or water… No, you didn’t.”
Mocking the good Samaritans, another sarcastically wrote, “You wanna be a hero to stop someone from stealing groceries & then you get pepper sprayed in the face? Congrats, you played yourself. I’m sure that billion-dollar corporation will give you a reward, buddy.”
Finally, one viewer summed it up bluntly, “Damn, the collateral damage.” As of the time of writing, it remains unclear what eventually happened to the suspected thief and the passersby who tried to help.
