# Shoplifter stories **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575 "2008-12-17T15:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/21 "2008-12-18T03:57:58Z")
Judge: " You are convicted of the crime of shoplifting. Do you have anything to say before I pass sentence on you?" Shoplifter: “Yes, your honor; I would like to point out that I am a loyal and partriotic American and that the only things I shoplift have a proud “Made In America” label.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/22 "2008-12-18T04:30:01Z")
For those who have been on the store’s side in a shoplifting case…did you ever have someone who you really felt sorry for, perhaps stealing food for their kids and couldn’t pay for it, and you let them go? I imagine that might be a difficult case if you felt the situation was genuine. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/23 "2008-12-18T05:02:00Z")
My wife and I were driving away from dinner, and we passed by a Mervyns clothing store in the same strip mall. Just as we were driving by, four people dashed out of the Mervyns with their arms full of clothes, and ducked into a waiting car. We looked at each other and I said “Is that a getaway car full of shoplifters?” I made a point to note the license plate number, and we went inside. I asked for the manager, who had just been informed of the grab-and-run. She was asking her employees if anyone had gotten a good look at them, and I said helpfully, “would you like their plate number?” She was pretty grateful, but I wonder if the police actually did anything. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/24 "2008-12-18T07:49:22Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I’ve been once, because some detector beeped as I left the CD/tapes section in a store. I began to try figuring out what was making it beep, by moving my bag, my coat, in front of the detector, but the security guy stopped me and asked me to follow him in an office where he searched me. He found nothing, apologized and let me go, but he seemed still suspicious and unconvinced. I was in my early 20s, long hair, poorly dressed. It probably didn’t help. > > Probably roughly at the same time, I often began to eat things like chocolate or candies while still in the store. Often put things in whatever was convenient too: a plastic bag, my pocket, etc… I can only assume that many a time some security guy followed me all around the store to no avail. You know, I’ve always wondered about that. Many times, I’ve left a store with a bag full of goodies, and somehow trigger the exit detector. Security guy stops me, “Can you open the bag and show me the receipt please ?”. I comply, security guy checks if anything in the bag isn’t on the receipt list… Then when he’s made sure, apologizes and lets me go on my merry way. I could have 30 pounds of stuff hidden about my person for all he knows 😕. I’m not that old, and I used to have long hair, I could \*totally \*be a delinquent ! SEARCH ME, I DEMAND A FULL BODY SEARCH YOU PROFILING BASTARD ! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/25 "2008-12-18T08:38:12Z")
In college a friend of mine and I unwittingly stole a lady’s groceries. We checked out as usual then got to her house and she asked me where I wanted my 7up. “I didn’t get any 7up.” “Well the 7up isn’t MINE?” We look in the bag and its full of someone else’s stuff. The lady in front of us had apparently not taken all of her bags off the counter and the cashier just put ours right next to it. We took all the bags and left. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/26 "2008-12-18T13:15:23Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Have you guys ever falsely accused someone of shoplifting? I don’t shoplift, and have never been accused, but sometimes when I leave a store without making a purchase I feel weird, like somebody might suspect me, particularly since I often carry a big purse. Never done the accusing, but have been accused. I was about 16 or 17 and watching my younger sibling and cousins in a mall while my dad was doing his shopping. They wanted to go to a Claire’s. Me in my punk rock hoodie had no interest at all in the store but I mooched around in a sullen teenage fashion while they browsed. I noticed the store lady watching me but whatever. Then she came up to me and told me she would have to ask me to take my hands out of my pockets or leave. I’m sure plenty of dopers will say she was perfectly justified and dozens of obnoxious teenagers stole from her store every day and no doubt that was true. Just the same, I immediately dragged my siblings out of that store without letting anyone make a purchase. That was about 8 years ago and I have never been back to one of those godforsaken places. (Not that I have any reason to go one for all my crappy plastic needs…) My anger has now faded a bit but for years I could not go by a Claire’s or hear one mentioned in my presence without launching into a rant about That Woman in the store who thought I was some kind of shitty-jewelry-stealing trash. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/27 "2008-12-18T13:37:06Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Oh my goodness, I could’ve been ‘busted’ by **Student Driver** ’s method just the other day, simply for not paying attention to what I was doing. > > See, I had gone shopping for my Secret Santa gift and was looking at some really small items. I couldn’t figure out which one of the three similar things was best, so I’d keep picking them up for closer inspection, then putting them back down in exchange for the next. > > Well at one point I realized that I’d been out a lot longer than I planned and needed to get back home. Of course, this meant that I should hurry up and get the rest of my shopping done first. So that translated into me checking my list to see what was left to get. Of course, the list was in my pocket. And the last trinket I’d picked up was still in my hand. > > Then there I was digging around forever looking for the list, completely oblivious to what this could look like, when it dawned on me. Eeee! I almost totally freaked the hell out and dropped everything on the floor. I’m sure if there’d been anyone observing my behavior, they’d have thought not only was I a really inept thief who chose ridiculous stuff to lift, but crazy as well. > > Yup, that was a fun trip. 🙂 > > Other than that, I’ve only seen blatant tag changes. As **ivylass** points out, it’s not hard to tell that a typically new and expensive piece does _not_ sell for $2. One of the nice things about the “aggressive hospitality” technique is that it does leave open the possibility that the pocketing is an honest mistake; it’s usually their behavior once I talk to them that makes me think good/bad things about a customer’s intentions. (I probably wouldn’t have even approached to do anything-- having something in hand while digging through a pocket or purse is okay, it’s when the hand comes back out _empty_ that I jump into the scene). I do wish customers would knock it off on the grabbing-food-and-drink-off-the-shelves-and-eating-as-they-shop thing. It’s not yours until you pay for it, and enough people just leave the empty wrappers/bottles stuffed somewhere that _yes_ we are suspicious of you and will follow you, even if you planned all along to pay for it. If you’re that damn hungry or thirsty, pay for the food, _then_ shop as you eat. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/28 "2008-12-18T13:41:53Z")
You can’t legally detain shoplifters in Australia (after a court case a few years back it’s considered false imprisonment and can get you in all sorts of trouble), so the most we could do if we saw someone swipe something was either do the whole “Hey, those (item)s are really great! Would you like some batteries/other useful accesory to go with it? They’re not much use without them…” thing, or just call security and let them deal with it. None of us were paid enough to really care or risk getting bashed or knifed over a $50 DVD player or a $15 transistor radio, so we’d just write the product off as “Stolen” and then move on with our day, unless it was something expensive like a digital camera or an iPod, in which case we’d try and stall the shoplifter as long as possible while another staff member called security. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/29 "2008-12-18T13:43:55Z")
I accidentally stole a bag of beef jerky once, but it was an inside job. I had just paid when the cashier told me the jerky wouldn’t scan and he didn’t care because it has his last day. I wasn’t sure what to do and still feel awkward about leaving with it. He was a young guy leaving for the summer to do landscaping, so I was more worried about calling attention to his dishonesty and precluding him from ever coming back than getting away with my free jerky. Nobody ever caught on though… it was the perfect crime. I’m always really tempted (not really) to abuse those “weigh your own produce and print a label” stations. I never use them, because I’m quirky, but I don’t think the cashiers would know if I did and just made things up. They never seem to be sure what produce I’m buying. “What kind of onion is this?” “Yellow?” “Are you sure it’s not a vidallia? Those are more expensive.” “No, I’m not sure. But I bought it because it looked yellow colored. I have no idea what it is. I’m making chicken soup tonight.” I secretly dream of labeling everything I buy a banana. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/30 "2008-12-18T14:39:56Z")
I once shopped at Wal-Mart and bought just a toothbrush. Sometimes a bag is just extra baggage and doesn’t really help, so I put the item in my coat pocket. I had the receipt and many of the employees know me, so I wasn’t worried about being accused of theft. Then I went next door to the grocery store, and as I left the checkout counter, the toothbrush fell out of my pocket, still in the display wrapping, of course. I didn’t see it, but an employee ran after me and said, “You dropped this.” I thanked him and left. Then it occurred to me that a smarter employee would have assumed I had shoplifted the toothbrush (unless they don’t carry that brand). But this one’s mind didn’t work that way. Shows we live in a trusting and honest neighborhood, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/31 "2008-12-18T14:51:15Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > For those who have been on the store’s side in a shoplifting case…did you ever have someone who you really felt sorry for, perhaps stealing food for their kids and couldn’t pay for it, and you let them go? I imagine that might be a difficult case if you felt the situation was genuine. NOPE. People don’t shoplift basic needs at the grocery store. The basic stuff like bread, milk and eggs are cheap enough that they can get plenty on govt. assisstance. No, they steal 1) Cigarettes 2) Booze and 3) Steaks. It makes economic sense to shoplift these luxuries because the consequences are the same for a stolen steak as for a bunch of ramen noodles. Why _not_ steal the good stuff? Besides, food stamps and WIC won’t cover booze and ciggies. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/32 "2008-12-18T15:17:22Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > NOPE. People don’t shoplift basic needs at the grocery store. The basic stuff like bread, milk and eggs are cheap enough that they can get plenty on govt. assisstance. No, they steal 1) Cigarettes 2) Booze and 3) Steaks. It makes economic sense to shoplift these luxuries because the consequences are the same for a stolen steak as for a bunch of ramen noodles. Why _not_ steal the good stuff? Besides, food stamps and WIC won’t cover booze and ciggies. Except… not. > [@racer72](#): > > …Towards the end of each month diapers and baby formula were the popular items to steal, it was always someone that relied on welfare and they didn’t have any money till the first of the month… ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/33 "2008-12-18T15:21:51Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > I accidentally stole a bag of beef jerky once, but it was an inside job. I had just paid when the cashier told me the jerky wouldn’t scan and he didn’t care because it has his last day. I wasn’t sure what to do and still feel awkward about leaving with it. He was a young guy leaving for the summer to do landscaping, so I was more worried about calling attention to his dishonesty and precluding him from ever coming back than getting away with my free jerky. Nobody ever caught on though.. it was the perfect crime. > > I’m always really tempted (not really) to abuse those “weigh your own produce and print a label” stations. I never use them, because I’m quirky, but I don’t think the cashiers would know if I did and just made things up. They never seem to be sure what produce I’m buying. > > “What kind of onion is this?” > “Yellow?” > “Are you sure it’s not a vidallia? Those are more expensive.” > “No, I’m not sure. But I bought it because it looked yellow colored. I have no idea what it is. I’m making chicken soup tonight.” > > I secretly dream of labeling everything I buy a banana. Ew, you don’t want to use a Vidalia onion in chicken soup - they’re too sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/34 "2008-12-18T15:35:14Z")
> [@emilyforce](#): > > Except… not. Hey I can only relate what happened at the my stores… ---
**Author:** ![Demonica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Demonica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demonica)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/35 "2008-12-18T15:44:34Z")
I have never personally seen anyone steal a few basic necessities in order to feed their hungry kids. Never. I’m sure it has happened, though. In that case, I _would_ have a bit of sympathy, but would still have them charged. Stealing is stealing. Actually, the lady who attempted to walk out with $480 had a couple of cans of formula and a bag of diapers thrown in there with the steaks and crab legs and stuff. I feel sorry for her kids. I feel extra sorry for the kids that are with Mom when she gets caught. From our loss prevention guy: One little boy, about 7, was caught stuffing his jacket full of steaks - his mom was shopping with his siblings elsewhere in the store. He started bawling and confessed that his mom TOLD him to. That’s just what always happened when they went shopping. I’m not sure what happened in that case. At our store the popular items seem to be: mouthwash(to drink), steaks, condoms, cold medication, batteries, stop smoking patches, and chinese food from the deli. I wonder what the charges are for theft \<$500? ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/36 "2008-12-18T15:55:44Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Ew, you don’t want to use a Vidalia onion in chicken soup - they’re too sweet. I’ve never deliberately bought Vidalia onions. I like the yellow colored ones for chicken soup. What are Vidalia onions good for? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/37 "2008-12-18T15:56:40Z")
> [@Demonica](#): > > At our store the popular items seem to be: mouthwash(to drink), steaks, condoms, cold medication, batteries, stop smoking patches, and chinese food from the deli. That’s right! I forgot about the “embarassing” stuff gets stolen too. We didn’t have condoms at Harris-Teeter (Because they’re evil, remember?) But things like pregnancy tests, Rogaine, anu-sol, etc… would often take a hike off the shelf. ---
**Author:** ![Demonica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Demonica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demonica)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/38 "2008-12-18T16:22:46Z")
Oh! I forgot about the pregnancy tests…those disappear a lot. And the saffron from the spice aisle, they take it out of the jar and put it in their pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/39 "2008-12-18T16:25:29Z")
I work in a hospital and people steal stuff from us, also…the VCR’s, the telephones, the clocks off the wall, etc. The most daring of the hospital shop lifters tried to walk out with one of our new, $1500.00 breast pumps. They are mounted on a rolling stand and are big enough that they can’t be hidden in a shirt or whatnot, so this person just threw a (hospital) towel over the whole thing and tried to roll it past the nurses station and on to the elevator. When stopped, she claimed she thought we “gave” it to her since we brought it to the room. Ya, that’s why it was “hidden” under the towel, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575/40 "2008-12-18T17:43:15Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I quit the job, I was tired of having to appear in court for the store but not paid for my time. That’s legal? Huh… Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoplifter-stories/477575.md?page=3)