Academy-Award winning actor Forest Whitaker says he was wrongly accused of shoplifting on Friday in an Upper East Side Manhattan deli and even frisked in public, TMZ reports.
Whitaker says he was leaving the Milano Market on the Upper East Side when he was stopped by a deli employee and accused of stealing.
An eyewitness told TMZ that the accusing employee frisked Whitaker in view of everyone and treated him like a “common criminal.” The employee didn’t find anything.
Whitaker’s representative told TMZ :”This was an upsetting incident given the fact that Forest did nothing more than walk into the deli. What is most unfortunate about this situation is the inappropriate way store employees are treating patrons of their establishment.”
The Milano Market employee says it was an ‘honest mistake.’