Lawsuit Filed In CVS Death

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 13, 2010 3:40PM

The family of Anthony Kyser, the shoplifting suspect who was strangled to death by an employee last weekend, has filed a lawsuit against the company and the employee.

Employees at the Little Village store noticed Kyser's theft, and chased Kyser into the alley behind the store where he was caught. Witnesses say one employee, later identified as a store manager, put Kyser into a chokehold while three other men restrained him. When police arrived on the scene, they found him unconscious, and Kyser was declared dead 45 minutes later at Mount Sinai Hospital. One witness to the incident has been revealed as an off-duty Cook County sheriff's officer who had her gun drawn while Kyser was in the chokehold.

No charges have been filed in the death which was ruled accidental by police after the Cook County medical examiner's office ruled it a homicide. That decision brought criticism from, among others, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush. The employee remains on leave until the investigation is completed.