Bunnings: Man dies after security guards arrest him for alleged shoplifting | Video | Frankston

ANTHONY Georgiou is lying face down on the concrete outside Bunnings Warehouse in the Victorian bayside suburb of Frankston.

Two members of the store’s security staff are holding him down as he cries out for help.

“Help. Help me, please. Help,” the 31-year-old screams. “I cannot breathe. Help me, I cannot breathe.”

Loss prevention staff, who are hired by a third party to work undercover at Bunnings stores, had accused Mr Georgiou of shoplifting. He was rushed to hospital shortly after the confrontation and hours later he was dead.

Footage of the September 12 incident was provided to A Current Affair.

In the video, filmed on a mobile phone by a bystander, security staff are told they could be putting Mr Georgiou at risk.

“He’s saying he can’t breathe,” a woman says to the guards. “He could die from that.”

The guards tell her Mr Georgiou should stop resisting.

“It’s called positional asphyxia. If you put pressure on his back while he’s facing down he can actually die. He’s saying he can’t breathe ... Just be careful.”

Frankston crime investigation unit Sergeant Gary Richards said the man was detained by security staff at the store on Gertrude St about 11.15am.

“Upon police arrival the 31-year-old Frankston man complained he was unwell and was taken to hospital by paramedics,” Sgt Richards told The Herald Sun.

“The cause of [the man’s] death is inconclusive at this stage.”

Bunnings released a statement shortly after Mr Georgiou’s death, alleging he was “attempting theft”.

Bunnings managing director Michael Schneider said the company had started an internal investigation.

“Our thoughts and sympathies go to the man’s family and friends.”

Mr Georgiou’s family released a statement saying they were “in a state of shock and grief”. They said his death was unnecessary.

The Coroner is still to determine the cause of death. Mr Georgiou leaves behind a four-year-old daughter.

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