An Illinois man captured a video of himself being struck by a security guard in the parking lot of a shuttered mall. The guard used his vehicle to strike the man, knocking him off an electric scooter he had been riding.
Posted by user Decayingmidwest (DMW) on TikTok, he and his friends visit abandoned areas in the Midwest. When DMW’s friend had been attacked by a security guard, they had been exploring the Ford City Mall.
While driving an electric scooter through the parking lot, up on the sidewalk, a security guard in an SUV is seen following DMW’s friend. He calls out to the guard “We’re just driving around!” and “chilling.”
The security guard suddenly drives onto the sidewalk, towards the man on the scooter, then rams him against the wall. DMW’s friend is knocked to the ground. “What the [expletive] are you doing, dude?” he says. The security guard makes a U-turn, screaming from the vehicle, “Stay your [expletive] out the mall!”
Later on, DMW’s friend claims to have been cornered when the security guard parks and gets out of his vehicle. The guard opens the door to the backseat—to which the man says he tried to get around the guard—and starts swinging what he claimed was a “metal pipe” and that the guard managed to hit him as he escaped through nearby bushes.
The reaction to Decayingmidwest’s TikTok video
Commtners in Decaymidwest’s TikTok video were rather furious that nothing was ultimately done, and encouraged him to seek a lawyer and sue. One viewer even joked about the odds of him winning, “When you take over the mall can I get 1 year of free rent.”
Another viewer thought the incident was much sinister. “Nah you need to press charges,” they wrote, “that’s attempted murder and hit and run.”
After DMW and his friend speak with police, they’re told they can “press charges” but won’t do it themselves. According to DMW, “The Chicago Police refused to arrest him,” even after he offered to point out who it was. To this, a viewer responded, “Cops being useless as per usual.”
Although it’s unclear if DMW and his friend are pressing charges, they did listen to one commenter who wrote, “Share this with the local news and put them on the spot.” They have since been interviewed by CBS News.
