‘Unruly’ Aldi customer sucker-punched man with service dog
Background: Surveillance image from the Aldi store in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., where a man punched another shopper (Broward County Sheriff's Office). Inset: Dandrea Johnson (Broward County Sheriff's Office).
A Florida man known to cause disturbances at an Aldi grocery store has been accused of violently attacking another shopper, according to a recent lawsuit.
Dandrea Johnson, 45, faces felony battery charges after police said he struck Bruce Reese near the exit of an Aldi in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, in October 2025. Months after the alleged assault, Reese’s family filed a lawsuit in Broward County against Johnson, Aldi, and DF Security LLC. The suit claims that the store and its security team were negligent in both preventing the attack and failing to act while it occurred.
Court documents indicate that Johnson regularly shopped at the same Aldi where Reese was also a customer. On October 11, 2025, Reese was at the store with his service dog when Johnson allegedly confronted him in an aisle about the animal. The lawsuit describes Johnson as having “verbally harassed Mr. Reese from the moment he entered the store.” Surveillance footage reportedly captured the encounter, which was visible to store staff and security.
The complaint states that the verbal confrontation “intensified over several minutes and moved through different parts of the store,” yet no employees or security personnel attempted to intervene. One security guard, the lawsuit says, “remained at his post in silence like a statue.” After leaving the store, Reese was allegedly sucker-punched by Johnson near the exit, just steps from the security guard. The impact knocked Reese unconscious, causing him to fall head-first and sustain a traumatic brain injury that left him in a coma for 20 days. Reese is said to have suffered severe brain damage, leaving him unable to live independently.
According to the lawsuit, store management was aware that Johnson had a history of being “unruly and aggressive.” The complaint also notes that the Lauderdale Lakes Aldi is located in a high-crime area and employs only one unarmed security guard, which the family claims does not meet industry standards.
Reese’s family is seeking $30 million in damages and has requested a jury trial. No responses have been filed by Aldi, DF Security, or Johnson as of Thursday.
Justin Shapiro, the attorney representing Reese, told local stations WSVN and ABC, “A large part of what we’re doing here is making sure that Aldi and its contractor learns from the mistakes that it made in this case.”
Johnson remains charged with felony battery. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 8.
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