Jerald Newman was left bloodied and bruised after his arrest at a Buckeye Walmart on Black Friday. Witnesses say a cop was too rough with him.

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Jerald Newman, the grandpa whose bloody arrest at a Walmart on Black Friday made national headlines, hasn't yet been charged on allegations of shoplifting and resisting arrest.

Buckeye police Lieutenant Jared Griffiths tells New Times that his agency did submit the charges to prosecutors. But the Maricopa County Attorney's Office sent the case back to the police agency for further investigation.

Griffiths says the agency plans to shore up the case and resubmit it next week.

"We have asked Buckeye to provide us with some additional information we need in order to make a charging decision," writes Jerry Cobb, spokesman for County Attorney Bill Montgomery, in response to an e-mail we sent him.

Witnesses at the Walmart claimed that Buckeye police officer Kevin Rorke was too harsh on Newman during the arrest.

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Image: YouTube

Jerald Newman

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The Arizona Department of Public Safety will conduct an independent investigation of the bloody Black-Friday arrest of a Walmart shopper.

Jerald Newman, 54, was knocked unconscious after a Buckeye police officer performed a "leg sweep" on him while arresting him on suspicion of shoplifting. (UPDATE: The officer's name has been released: Kevin Rorke.)

The story of the Black Friday arrest (which actually occurred late Thursday night) went viral, boosted by a graphic video shot just after the take-down of the limp and bloody suspect.

Newman's family contends the suspect, who was later booked into jail on suspicion of shoplifting and resisting arrest, had merely tucked a video game in his waistband to either help his grandson or prevent an unruly mob from taking the game from him.

Whether or not Newman was resisting arrest has become a major question in the case. A CNN reporter who happened to be at the store on Thursday says Newman wasn't resisting as a cop led him away.
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Image: YouTube

Jerald Newman was knocked unconscious in a take-down by police last night at a Buckeye Walmart.

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Buckeye PD released its version of a shoplifting suspect's bloody take-down during last night's Black Friday event at a Walmart, saying the guy brought on his injuries himself.

Jerald Allen Newman, 54, was arrested following a chaotic scene at the store in which a video-game display was destroyed by a mob of shoppers. Video shot by onlookers shows the moments after Newman hit the floor, as cops lifted the unconscious man's head from a pool of blood.

Yet Newman wouldn't have ended up on the ground if only he had handled his arrest differently, says Buckeye Assistant Police Chief Larry Hall.

"He's responsible," Hall says.

Hall does admit the department made a mistake -- by not getting its side of the story out early enough.

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Police "body-planted" a man at a Buckeye Walmart's Black Friday event after the man put a video game in his waistband while helping a grandson who was being jostled in a crowd.

The take-down, which left the man bloody, was one of several violent acts reported across the country related to America's annual orgasm of retail sales.

This year's Black Friday has spurred robberies in California and South Carolina, and a mischievous pepper-spray attack on shoppers in Porter Ranch, California, that hurt 20 people.

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