NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans Police Officer was attacked while answering a shoplifting call.
It happened Saturday afternoon at the Tex-Mart on Chef Highway in New Orleans East.
Security video obtained by WWL Louisiana shows Lamont Mathis, 41, entering a storage room and taking a bottle of liquor off the shelf.
The store owner, Habieke “Tex” Tekelewold says he confronted Mathis, took the liquor away and that’s when the suspect threatened to get a gun.
“He said I’m going to shoot you guys,” Tekelewold said. “When he said that, the people inside the store, the customers, they panicked and everybody ran, he’s going to shoot, he’s going to shoot. I said okay, let me call the police.”
Video shows the responding officer using his taser to subdue the suspect who tried to leave.
According to the NOPD, he resisted arrest and physically attacked the officer.
In court documents, the officer said he was thrown to the ground by Mathis who repeatedly punched him in the head and tried to strangle him.
Eventually, bystanders stepped in to help the officer.
You can hear them pleading with Mathis to let go of the officer on a video post circulating on TikTok.
Melanie Talia from the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation said the incident shows just how dangerous any call a police officer responds to can be.
“I think to the average citizen, you don’t think a shoplifting could turn into an event where someone is seriously injured or perhaps even killed, and in this incident, clearly it could have gone very, very badly,” Talia said
Additional officers arrived on the scene and arrested Mathis.
Sylvia McKenzie from the Rosedale Neighborhood Association applauded both the police officer for his restraint and the bystanders for helping to de-escalate the situation.
“The officer could have feared for his life, thinking he was trying to hurt him or kill him, and anything could have happened,” McKenzie said. “I thank God for them coming up and asking him, turn him loose, turn the police loose.”
Mathis remains in the Orleans Justice Center, facing a list of charges including battery of a police officer and resisting a police officer with force.
The officer was treated for minor injuries including blows to the head.
“Law enforcement needs the support of the community, and the community needs the support of law enforcement,” Talia said. “That’s what we saw here.”
An NOPD spokesperson released this statement about the incident:
“The NOPD commends the responding officer in this incident for his patience and restraint in handling a situation that escalated rapidly. We are also appreciative of the citizens who stepped in to assist the officer during this incident.”
City Councilman Oliver Thomas whose district includes New Orleans East said, “Shoplifting is a major problem in the city I've talked to every Chief about it, but if you talk to the merchants DOWNTOWN it's a bigger issue there. Canal Street is ridiculous. Look at the calls for assistance downtown!! Not fair to stereotype the East. We need to protect all of our merchants and their merchandise.
I pray that the Officer recovers and knows how much (the) men and women on the force are appreciated. I've been watching the national news also about all of the smash and grabs and how groups just walk into stores and take stuff.”
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