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| Phillip Smith was arrested at the Mag Mile Norstrom location. | CPD; Google |
Two Nordstrom loss prevention officers tackled and helped police disarm a man who was holding a gun inside the retailer’s Magnificent Mile location last Tuesday evening, prosecutors said.
The store’s agents were watching as a known scam artist tried to purchase merchandise with a counterfeit $100 bill just before 8 p.m., according to police. But when the guards moved in to detain Phillip Smith for police, Smith pulled away and began to grab for his waistband to pull out a gun, according to court records.
Police said Nordstrom officers tackled Smith. Another employee ran and found a cop who joined the struggle inside the store at 55 East Grand. While the three men wrestled with Smith, the police officer pulled something from under Smith’s body: an ammunition magazine loaded with 22 rounds of .40-caliber bullets, he would later report.
One of the security guards then succeeded in prying the rest of a Glock semi-automatic from Smith’s left hand, police said. The cop was soon able to handcuff Smith and take him into custody.
Prosecutors charged the 34-year-old with felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and deceptive practice. Judge John Lyke ordered him held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Also last week, a security guard at the Palmer House chased down and detained a robbery suspect who tried to mug a tourist outside the landmark hotel.
