I have trouble understanding how misdemeanor theft of less than $3 gets you dragged out of the car. Write a ticket to the guy for theft, have him sign it or refuse it. When you escalate things to a fight, some people are going to keep raising their behavior to match yours. As seen here, it ain't gonna end pretty.
Even in my very rural county, a call from a convenience store that someone walked out with a beer is going to get an officer that shows up with in 48 hours and takes a written report that will go nowhere.
I think there is a past history of similar behavior and bad blood between the deceased and the department. I can believe that probably in no case are the supervisors that told people to get this bad apple off the streets going to get any slap on the wrist, if indeed they did tell their officers anything.
Too many egos in todays world that can't handle not being right.