An 83-year-old North Carolina Home Depot employee has died after being shoved to the ground by a shoplifter in October.
Gary Rasor died on 1 December due to "complications from the injuries received", the Hillsborough Police Department said in a statement on Friday.
Rasor's death has been ruled as a homicide, with authorities actively searching for the suspect.
"The employee was injured as the man was leaving the store’s garden area with a shopping cart containing three pressure washers," police said.
Surveillance footage released by the police showed a man leaving the Home Depot with a cart full of shoplifted items when he was intercepted by the elderly man on 18 October. The suspect shoved Rasor with one hand. He immediately fell to the ground, hitting his head on a flower pot.
The video showed the suspect, described by the police as a Black male about six feet tall, casually walking away. He later fled in a white Hyundai Sonata, which had an obscured temporary North Carolina tag.
Rasor, popularly known at the store as Mr Gary, reportedly sustained several fractures and lost the ability to walk again.
He celebrated his 83rd birthday in the hospital with his wife.
"They said they were going to send him to rehab to heal,” said Yovone Rasor, who lived with her husband in Durham.
Ms Rasor told CBS17 that she never gave up hope that her husband would recover and even bought plane tickets for them to visit family during the holidays.
But the day before Thanksgiving, the octogenarian was rushed to the ICU and died days later. “I can’t get him back… that’s it,” Ms Rasor said.
Jeff Rasor, the son of the Home Depot employee, said it was "just beyond our comprehension that someone would do this for a couple of power washers".
"That just is mind-boggling."
“We are heartbroken by the loss of our associate Gary. He was part of our team for more than nine years. He was an amazing friend, husband, father and grandfather, always willing to help anyone,” a spokesperson for Home Depot told Fox News Digital.
“Right now, our top concern is supporting his family and our associates during this difficult time.”
