Man, 77, dies after chasing thieves on mobility scooter
A PENSIONER died after he chased a gang of shoplifters – on his mobility scooter. The 77-year-old man was found unconscious by a passer-by.
He had fallen from the vehicle after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Paramedics gave the man multiple shocks using a defibrillator, but he was certified dead in hospital after being airlifted by helicopter.
Police have opened a manslaughter investigation into the death.
The victim, who has not yet been positively identified by police, had been riding his mobility scooter near his home in Crawley, West Sussex, on Sunday when it is understood he saw several men allegedly stealing food from a nearby Marks & Spencer store.
The elderly man gave chase but, according to local residents, he started suffering chest pains and fell unconscious after the suspects turned and began shouting at him.
A spokesman for Sussex Police confirmed that detectives were last night trying to contact the man’s relatives.
They were treating the pensioner’s death as manslaughter under a police operation code-named Operation Saltzburg. One shopkeeper, whose premises overlook the scene where the OAP collapsed, said: “I went outside to get a look and suddenly there were so many people; so many police just appeared on the road.”
A woman, who runs the charity shop next to where the alleged confrontation happened, added: “The man on the mobility scooter chased after them and then it came to a confrontation here outside the shop.
“What I do know is that the ambulance crews were working on him from about half past three, right up until when I left the shop at 4.30pm.”
Three men were being questioned last night on suspicion of manslaughter and robbery.
The three, a 36-year-old from Crawley and two others of no fixed address, aged 41 and 25 years, were originally arrested near the scene.
Police said that they were called by paramedics and believed the pensioner had been involved in an argument before being robbed in The Boulevard.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “It is believed that shortly beforehand he had been involved in an altercation close to the public toilets near to Marks & Spencer.”