Stop & Shop death is ruled homicide

The sudden death of a shoplifting suspect in an April confrontation with Brooklyn Stop & Shop workers was officially ruled a homicide, the city medical examiner’s officer said Thursday.

Ralph Nimmons, 51, suffered “sudden cardiac death following (a) physical altercation with restraint and prone positioning,” the autopsy found. The victim was also suffering from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

“It confirms what we said all along, and what the witnesses said,” said the dead man’s uncle Bonezlee Nimmons, 59. “We need these people to be accountable for what they did.”

Police have made no arrests in the fatal April 14 incident, and the Nimmons family is pressing for a meeting with Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. The prosecutor’s office said Thursday that the case remains under investigation.

The homeless Nimmons was allegedly caught stealing food at the Flatbush Ave. store, with three employees taking the suspect down to the floor inside the store to hold him for police, according to eyewitnesses. The workers reportedly ignored the man’s cries that he had a heart condition and couldn’t breathe, with Nimmons eventually taken to Kings County Hospital — where he died.

“They’re trying to hide behind the fact that Ralph might have been shoplifting,” said his uncle. “Even if he was, the penalty isn’t death. The whole situation was ugly and depraved, and they didn’t care.”

Family members planned a Friday meeting with their lawyer Sanford Rubenstein. “I’m calling for a grand jury to be empaneled,” said Rubenstein. “Those who are responsible for this tragedy should be held criminally responsible.”

Jennifer Brogan, spokesperson for Stop & Shop, issued a statement saying the company was awaiting the outcome of the DA’s probe.

“We remain saddened by the unfortunate event that took place at our Flatbush store … and are continuing to cooperate fully with law enforcement,” she said.