Woman calls cops on security guards who manhandled her for ‘shoplifting’

A woman who was mistaken as a shoplifter and manhandled by two undercover guards at a Mannings pharmacy shop has filed a report with the police on Thursday, with the investigation now underway.

The news came after the woman, Leung, wrote on social media on Tuesday that she was confronted by two plainclothes store detectives in the morning after she used a self-service kiosk to purchase two boxes of “King To Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa”, a herbal cough syrup, at Mannings' Tsim Sha Tsui branch.

She said after walking 50 meters away from the shop, the two female detectives caught up with her and accused her of stealing items.

According to Leung, one of the women had her in a chokehold and the other pulled her backpack, both dragging her back to the store.

“They both held onto me like that, I was very scared, I was screaming for help, I was really screaming for help,” Leung wrote.

At the store, she immediately took out the receipt from her pocket to show it to the store manager - who was unaware of the action - as proof of purchase. She also said the manager claimed by then that he had just learned the two women were plainclothes security guards.

Leung then lodged a complaint with Mannings’ customer service department.

Recalling the incident, Leung said she thought she was being kidnapped in that moment.

“When the two women pulled me away, I couldn’t struggle free on my own…I feel extremely shocked; being born and raised in Hong Kong, I have never experienced such a thing like this at all.” Leung wrote.

After drawing widespread criticism online for the feat, Mannings issued a statement late on Wednesday apologizing to Leung.

In the statement, a Mannings spokesman said it is deeply concerned about the incident involving Leung, who experienced improper treatment at the Tsim Sha Tsui store.

“Upon learning of the situation, our management team swiftly reached out on the same day to extend our heartfelt apologies to Leung and promised to follow up on the incident.”

“Mannings sincerely apologized for the distress caused to Miss Leung and is committed to continuous improvement”.

The statement also read that the two plain-clothes store detectives were employed by a contracted security company. An investigation found they violated the security company’s code of conduct, thus, the company’s contract was immediately terminated and the two security guards were fired.

The pharmacy chain also said it would set up a task force to thoroughly review store security protocols and processes to prevent similar incidents from recurring.