The son of an elderly Home Depot worker who died after being shoved to the concrete floor by a serial shoplifter he tried to stop has called for a crackdown on rampant theft which is on the rise across the nation.
Gary Rasor, 83, died on December 1 after he confronted the thief who was stealing three pressure washers worth $800 at the store’s garden center on October 18.
Jeff Rasor said in a new interview with Nightline his father was ‘just going to ask him for a receipt’ before the attack and called for authorities to bring harsher consequences to deter thieves and end the rapid rise in organized retail crime.
His father had worked at the Hillsborough, North Carolina, store for nine years and was in and out of the hospital in the weeks after the incident before being transferred to hospice care, where he celebrated his 83rd birthday.
Terry McAnthony McMillian Jr., 26, was arrested and charged with first degree murder and robbery in January over Rasor’s death.
The son of an elderly Home Depot worker who died after being shoved to the concrete floor by a serial shoplifter he tried to stop has called for a crackdown on growing theft
Gary Rasor, 83, died on December 1 after he confronted the thief who was stealing three pressure washers worth $800 at the store’s garden center on October 18
Terry McAnthony McMillian Jr., 26, (pictured) was arrested and charged with first degree murder and robbery in January over Rasor’s death and the court case is still pending
Jeff Rasor wants authorities to bring harsher consequences to deter thieves and put an end to the rapid rise in organized retail crime following his father’s death
The grandfather confronted the suspect and put his arm out to stop the man from rolling away a cartful of shoplifted pressure washers.
He was seen on surveillance footage being shoved to the floor by the thief, who was clad in a Calvin Klein hoodie and face mask.
Rasor was left unable to walk and suffered a mild heart attack after the incident and died six weeks later as a result of the injuries.
His wife Yovone said that she and her husband had plans to retire, travel and meet their new grandchild for the first time before his death.
Their son revealed that they asked him to retire on his 80th birthday because there was no financial need to work but he refused because of how much he enjoyed working at Home Depot.
He trained young employees and loved interacting with the customers so he continued to work there for two years before the violent incident.
‘He was just going to ask him for a receipt,’ Jeff told ABC News.
It is believed Rasor was attacked in the course of organized retail crime which is the large-scale theft of goods which are then resold illegally.
Jeff is calling on authorities to crack down on this growing trend and said: ‘There has to be consequences in my mind, and the consequences have to fit the crime.
‘I can’t imagine that any piece of equipment in Home Depot is worth a life — and so when you find out it’s $837, it’s just pretty bad.’
And he added that his father would want ‘appropriate measures’ implemented to discourage retail theft and stop people from heading into a life of crime.
Jeff spoke about the man charged with his father’s death and said: ‘He [wouldn’t want] this guy to be in jail the rest of his life.
‘He would rather that guy be graduating from law school and be on an internship right now somewhere.
Rasor had worked at the Hillsborough, North Carolina, store for nine years and was in and out of the hospital in the weeks after the incident before being transferred to hospice care
Rasor was left unable to walk and suffered a mild heart attack after the incident and died six weeks later as a result of the injuries
‘That’s what he’d want. But he’s not, he’s sitting in jail.’
Another Home Depot employee in California was killed after he confronted a shoplifter, just five months after Rasor’s death.
Loss prevention employee Blake Mohs, 26, was shot in the chest in April and two people have been arrested on murder charges over his death.
It comes as law enforcement officials have warned of an increase in violent and brazen attacks as the rate of organized retail crime continues to rise.
Retailers have reported a 26.5 per cent increase in organized crime between 2020 and 2021, according to a report released by the National Retail Federation in April.
Home Depot’s vice president of asset protection told ABC News: ‘It’s growing double-digit year over year.
‘We don’t have enough resources to handle, [so] we have to prioritize the biggest impacts.
‘More and more we’re seeing the risk being brought into the stores, and people being hurt or people even being killed in many cases because these folks, they just don’t care about the consequence.’
In January, a Walmart employee was bashed in the head after two thieves tried to walk out of the store pushing a couple of shopping carts filled to the brim.
A thief stole more than $1,700 worth of merchandise from a Duane Reade in Manhattan last June before he attacked two employees with a bicycle chain.
And two Lululemon employees were fired for ‘breaking employee policy’ after brazen thieves stole armfuls of expensive yoga gear and they tried to stop them.
Shocking footage shows masked robbers taking merchandise from displays near the front of the store in Peachtree Corners, Atlanta, before rushing out to their getaway car.
The incident happened in early May and the Lululemon shop where assistant manager Jennifer Ferguson worked has suffered a spate of robberies.
Jennifer and another employee named Rachel Rogers, who were working in the front, claim they were let go for trying to stop them and ‘breaking employee handbook policy’ of not interfering with a robbery.
Stores across the country have experienced a sharp rise in crime and some major retailers have been forced to shut down shops due to millions of dollars in losses as rampant theft plagues businesses.
Shoplifting has reached alarming levels and large retailers, including Target, Macy’s and Best Buy, are now making good on threats to shutter outlets if crime is not lowered.
Jeff revealed they asked Rasor to retire on his 80th birthday because there was no financial need to work but he refused because of how much he enjoyed working at Home Depot
Rasor, pictured in the hospital with his son Jeff, died on December 1 after being admitted the day before Thanksgiving
![Jeff (right) spoke about the man charged with his father's death and said: 'He [wouldn't want] this guy to be in jail the rest of his life.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/02/06/71682895-12151165-image-a-73_1685682584310.jpg)
Jeff (right) spoke about the man charged with his father’s death and said: ‘He [wouldn’t want] this guy to be in jail the rest of his life.
Rasor’s wife Yovone said that she and her husband had plans to retire, travel and meet their new grandchild for the first time before his death.
In 2021 retailers lost a combined $94.5billion to shrink, a term used to describe theft and other types of inventory loss. And organized retail crime incidents soared by 26.5 per cent in the same year, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey.
Brazen daylight thefts and self-checkouts have also made it easier for people to walk out without paying for items.
Workers in one San Francisco Target store say they are being shoplifted every ten minutes.
Employees say they have watched individuals actively ‘shoveling’ goods into bags before making off.
Goods including trays of lipstick and nail polishes are being cleaned out by shoplifters on a daily basis.
DailyMail
