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LAKELAND, Fla. — It was the middle of the night on Feb. 7 at a Walmart Supercenter when a man attempted to steal $380.74 of DVDs, police said.

Pushing a shopping cart stacked high with them, the man tried to leave the store, but when employees noticed — and confronted him — the man ran, police said, tugging at his falling pants along the way.

At some point, the man fell, the initial police report says, and three Walmart employees detained him.

Twelve hours later, the man, identified by Lakeland police as Kenneth Wisham, was dead.

Reports from police at the time hinted at a medical mystery that had overtaken the 64-year-old, who stopped breathing while he was being detained. Wisham never regained consciousness, despite life-saving efforts at Walmart and the hospital, and was pronounced dead later that afternoon.

Two days later, the Polk County medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy.

The cause of death, officials determined, was mechanical asphyxia by restraint, meaning his airway was suppressed during a struggle.

Wisham also had 15 broken ribs.

Nearly seven months after Wisham died, Lakeland police issued arrest warrants for three people last week, all employees of Walmart. They face one charge each of manslaughter. The two men and one woman — Nathan Higgins, 35; Randall Tomko, 58; and Crucelis Nunez, 23 — were taken into custody Friday.

A Walmart spokesman told the Lakeland Ledger that the company is conducting its own investigation, and the employment status of the three individuals involved is under review.

“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by these events,” spokesman Charles Crowson said. “The status of the associates involved continues to be reviewed. We’ll continue working with law enforcement officials, as we have from the beginning, while conducting our own review.”