Man facing battery charge after choking Macy's guard

A 22-year-old Milwaukee man who put a Macy's security guard in a chokehold last week has been charged with battery.

According to the Wauwatosa police report:

About noon Feb. 1, Aaron Buchanan and his girlfriend were in the elevator at Macy's. He took a child's shirt from the store and stuffed it into his girlfriend's bag, which was filled with items she had purchased.

When the security guard confronted the couple, Buchanan grabbed the guard's throat and pulled his head to the side, knocking off and damaging his glasses. Then he picked up the guard by the neck so his feet were off the ground, and started to choke him.

An employee at the cosmetic counter screamed for Buchanan to let go and told a co-worker to call 911. Buchanan quickly dropped the guard and ran from the store.

He was arrested for battery causing strangulation and suffocation, retail theft and on a Racine Police Department warrant. Buchanan is out on bail, but is banned from entering Mayfair as a condition of his release.

After the altercation, the guard said he had felt like he was losing consciousness and was getting "starry eyed." He couldn't radio for help because the pressure prevented him from talking. He had mild neck pain and trouble swallowing in the following days.