A security guard at a New York City department store has been arrested after witnesses said he brutalized a man accused of shoplifting pricy Prada shoes.

The altercation happened Friday evening at the Century 21 store in downtown Manhattan.

Police say 19-year-old Victor Roberson shoplifted two pairs of Prada shoes worth $850 and fled.

They say security guards followed Roberson out of the store.

Witnesses told police that 24-year-old security guard Wilson Acosta punched and choked Roberson.

Roberson was treated at a hospital and then arrested on charges of petit larceny and possession of stolen property.

Acosta was arrested on an assault charge.

It’s not known if either man has an attorney who can speak for him.

Century 21 said Acosta has been suspended from him job pending an investigation.

(AP)