http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny...,1757779.story
A 34-year-old Wal-Mart worker died Friday morning after he was knocked to the ground after "a throng of shoppers physically broke down the doors," pushing their way into the store at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Nassau police said.
The man was knocked down at 5:03 a.m. and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.
As of Friday morning the cause of death was described as "undetermined," police said. An exact cause of death will be determined by the county medical examiner's office, police said. The man's name was not immediately made public by the police, and the store was closed.
A 28-year-old pregnant woman was also taken to an area hospital for observation, and three other shoppers suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospitals for treatment.
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The Fifth Squad is investigating.
Meanwhile, bargain hunters rushed to local stores late Thursday night and early Friday morning to get a jump on Black Friday sales.
Tommy DeGennaro and his wife, Rosette, celebrated their 20th Black Friday shopping excursion, matching the number of years they've been married.
"She dragged me out the first time," Tommy DeGennaro said Friday morning in the Smith Haven Mall as groups of fellow bargain hunters scurried around him. "Now, it's kind of a family tradition. We go out, look for sales . . . Hey, somebody's got to help out the economy."
The former Commack residents, now living in Las Vegas, brought Rosette DeGennaro's sister, Dina Mossalam of Northport, to the mall at 4 a.m., when the doors at JC Penney opened.
"I thought they were crazy when we started driving and no one was on the road," Mossalam said. "But once we got here, there were some really good sales."
Tommy DeGennaro said the traffic at Smith Haven seemed to be down from previous years, perhaps as much as 40 percent. But Mossalam was surprised how quickly the shopping crowd multiplied. "We were third in a line at JC Penney," she said, "and just stepped out for a moment. When we went to get back in line, it had grown to about 50 people."
Still, not all of the early-bird shoppers felt the effort and lack of sleep paid off.
Lisa Palmeri of Mount Sinai, making her fourth consecutive Black Friday appearance at Smith Haven Mall, didn't think there were enough bargains.
"The sales are so-so," she said. "I didn't think it was worth it this year."
Black Friday ads drove Sriteja Rao, 23, of Hicksville to shop at the Broadway Mall at dawn. "We've been out since four this morning. We started our morning at Sports Authority in Westbury," Rao said of his shopping trip with his girlfriend, Lauren Loechner, 25 of Merrick. "We thought that in 2006 and 2007 discounts were better."
Despite that, the couple bought a $365 elliptical machine -- which typically costs $500.
"When you look at the ads Thanksgiving Day, it really enticed," said Rao, who added that he was disappointed that Steve & Barry's, the retailer in bankruptcy court, was closed at the time.
"But the problem is some stores like Best Buy have limited quantities," he said, adding that consumers were pretty calm.