A Fairburn good Samaritan is suing grocery store chain Kroger after a store manager allegedly body-slammed him in the parking lot for trying to help another patron.
John Young, 74, is also suing the now former manager, Jack Hinesly, and the private security company that employed the security officer who accompanied Hinesly during that Aug. 22 incident.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Fulton County State Court, accuses Hinesly of assault and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional stress.
Young is demanding damages of at least $3,500 to recoup medical expenses for a torn rotator cuff and stitches to a cut allegedly suffered in the incident, and he is asking that his legal fees be paid and for an unspecified amount in putative damages.
“I can hardly use that arm now,” Young said when reached by phone Thursday, referring to his injured right arm.
Hinesly was arrested by the Union City police and charged with simple battery and released after the incident on $1,000 bond. Kroger fired him.
Neither Hinesly, nor spokespersons for Kroger or security company Norred could be reached Thursday for comment.
Young is a retired truck driver who had been operating a non-profit that cooperated with grocery stores to donate perishable foods to needy families. He had been a regular at the Union City store for years.
The complaint says he was shopping at the store in the 4500 block of Jonesboro Road when he said he overheard a woman on the phone saying she couldn’t afford to buy some items. As Young checked out, the woman was behind him, and Young said he invited her to follow him.
“Something said to me, ‘Help her,’” Young told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last August.
The woman went with him to his truck, where he began to look for food to give her.
That’s when Hinesly, nearly 20 years younger than Young with 60 pounds and six inches on the elderly man, allegedly confronted Young with the unnamed security guard in tow.
“Defendant Hinesly slammed Plaintiff Young to the ground with such force that (the) plaintiff’s head hit the pavement, shattering his eye glasses, causing a deep cut to his head and profuse bleeding,” the lawsuit claims. “Plaintiff Young was restrained by … Hinesly.”
It was unclear on Thursday when this case would go before a judge.
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