Shoplifter accused of stealing meat dies in grocery store fight, California cops say

A 34-year-old man accused of stealing meat from a California supermarket died Wednesday night in a fight with a store employee, KTVU reported.

The man “stopped breathing for an unknown reason” during the 10 p.m. scuffle at a Lucky supermarket in Antioch, California, according to KRON. He died at the scene. The identity of the man who died has not been released.

A 56-year-old store employee, who had caught the man trying to steal meat behind the butcher’s counter, was hospitalized in stable condition, KNTV reported.

The employee told police the man had “attacked him” after being confronted, KRON reported.

“When the officers arrived on scene, they found one subject who was unconscious. Did not have a pulse,” said Lt. Joe Donleavy, KTVU reported. They could not revive him.

Antioch, population 111,000, is a city along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta near the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California.