Hero grandma goes viral for stopping alleged Walmart shoplifter

Michael Gwilliam
Grandma fights shoplifter in viral video

A heroic grandma has won the internet’s heart after a video surfaced of her trying to shop an alleged shoplifter at a Walmart in Canada.

It’s not every day that you see an elderly person step in to confront strangers, but that’s exactly what happened in an incident caught on film when a man appeared to leave a Walmart without paying.

In the video, a man is seen leaving a Walmart with a shopping cart full of goods and a bike when another individual, presumingly the one filming, asked if he was “going to pay for that.”

“Yeah,” the alleged thief replied while still pushing his cart towards the exit, trying to leave in a hurry. What he didn’t expect, however, was for a brave elderly woman to take matters into her own hands.

Elderly woman fights accused shoplifter

After using her own shopping cart to block his path, the woman yelled “excuse me” and tried to pull off his balaclava and reveal his face.

Once she successfully pulled it off, the man kept trying to get away and found himself in a tug-of-war as the grandma pulled on his cart.

“F**k off, a**hole!” she exclaimed with the confrontation escalating and eventually even successfully stopping him from taking the goods with him. “You jack up the price for everybody else, cause of you a**holes!”

Grandma vs walmart shoplifter
Someone sign this woman to a UFC contract.

Video of the incident was originally posted to Facebook by Darrell Johansen, who claimed he had alerted police and that there were other theft issues at the Campbell River Walmart.

“I spotted this guy within five seconds of entering the store and knew he was about to run, and this is the result,” he wrote, according to Newsweek. “Whoever this lady is that ripped his mask off, I’ll take you as my partner in crime-fighting anytime.”

In the time since being uploaded, the clip has been reposted to Twitter and has been viewed over 800,000 times with many commending the woman for her actions, though some noted she is lucky the man wasn’t armed.

Regardless, potential thieves may want to think twice with this grandma ready to throwdown and roll back her sleeves if things get confrontational at Walmart.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam