Good lawd!  What’s the penalty for stealing hairspray then?!

A homeless shoplifter was CHOKED to DEATH — after stealing TOOTHPASTE — from a CVS store in Chicago!

Dramatic surveillance video shows the 35-year-old man fleeing into a back alley after swiping the toothpaste with the store’s pharmacy manager in hot pursuit.  The manager corners dude, they struggle, and the thief falls to the ground.  The manager gets on top of the robber, to hold him, and a bystander then attempts to aid the employee — by KICKING and PUNCHING the guy on the ground!?

The homeless guy can be seen flailing his legs, during the struggle, until about the two-minute mark, that’s when the man stops moving all together.

The medical examiner ruled the death a HOMICIDE — by choking — but police declined to file charges in the case.  The shoplifter’s mother has filed a civil suit that ‘s still pending.

The pharmacy manager stated, in his deposition, that he was acting in SELF DEFENSE:  “As soon as I got hit by Mr. Kyser, that’s when it went from I’m here trying to recover the product and he can leave to all of a sudden he just punched me, so now I need to defend myself.”

The video has led some politicians to call for the criminal investigation to be re-opened.

CVS declined to comment.

(Daily Mail)