Black Teens Falsely Accused Of Shoplifting At Nordstrom Rack

BRENTWOOD, MO — Mekhi Lee, Dirone Taylor and Eric Rogers — three black teens — were nervous as they browsed a Nordstrom Rack store in Brentwood Square last Thursday, looking for outfits to wear to prom. They noticed store employees watching them as they shopped, they said, and felt a confrontation coming early on.

"Every time we move, they move," Lee said of the store's employees in an interview with KMOV Channel 4. "When we looked up, they looked up."

Lee is a freshman at Alabama A&M, while Rogers and Taylor are seniors at East St. Louis Senior High School and De Smet Jesuit High School, respectively. Both Rogers and Taylor have full scholarships to attend college next year.

But that didn't stop another shopper from calling them punks, the teens said, and asking sarcastically if their parents were proud of them. That's when the three decided to leave, but not before buying something — to make a point.

"We made the purchase to show them we're equal, we don't have to steal anything," Rogers said.

As the three left the store, they were surrounded by police. They'd been accused of theft by the store's employees. After being detained in the parking lot, police determined they hadn't stolen anything and let them go with no charges. The teens said they were embarrassed, but that police treated them respectfully and were just doing their jobs.

The store's president, Geevy Thomas, said he is flying to St. Louis to personally apologize to the three teens and their families and to review training practices and polices with store employees.

"We didn't handle this situation well, and we apologized to these young men and their families," Nordstrom said in a statement. "We're enhancing our internal practices and trainings to help ensure this doesn't happen again. We want all customers to feel welcome when they shop with us, and we don't tolerate discrimination of any kind."

"These things do not need to happen," St. Louis NAACP president Adolphus Pruitt, told the Post-Dispatch. He said incidents like this one are not isolated and that preventing repeats in the future should be a mission for everyone.

Taylor agreed. "Being a young black man, you experience certain things," he said. "You experience being watched."

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images for Nordstrom Inc.