February 22, 2019 – Two Nordstrom loss prevention officers tackled and helped police disarm a man who was holding a gun inside the retailer’s Magnificent Mile location on February 12, prosecutors said.

The store’s agents were watching as a known scam artist tried to purchase merchandise with a counterfeit $100 bill just before 8 p.m., according to police. But when the guards moved in to detain Phillip Smith for police, Smith pulled away and grabbed for his waistband to pull out a gun, according to court records.

Police said Nordstrom officers tackled Smith (left). Another employee ran and found a police officer who joined the struggle inside the store at 55 East Grand Avenue. While the three men wrestled with Smith, the police officer, he later reported, pulled from under Smith’s body an ammunition magazine loaded with 22 rounds of 40-caliber bullets.

One of the security guards then pried the Glock semi-automatic from Smith’s left hand, police said. The police officer handcuffed Smith and took him into custody.

Prosecutors charged the 34-year-old with felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and deceptive practice. Circuit Judge John Lyke ordered him held in lieu of $100,000 bail.