Pregnant Mom Arrested Because a Sandwhich!

[DaveP]

Well, an accident or not its theft in the eyes of the law. I guess if you can't go into a store without "forgetting to pay" you should only shop online.

It shouldn't matter if you steal a $1 item or an $100 item. Yes it sucks if you simply forgot, but you have to be more dilligent in checking then.

Im not being heartless, if the wrappers were indeed in the cart how exactly could you forget to pay?

I really dont care that she was pregnant or had a kid with her, theft is theft.

+1

[Sally888]

+1

+1

[roseofblack25]

I think what they did was a little overboard. Taking a young child away and arresting them because they forgot about a $5 sandwich? When they offered to pay they should have accepted the money and let that be it. Now if they had of tried to deny taking it then I could see why they would be arrested.
I am super forgetful and do stupid things too sometimes when I'm alone...I think if I was being arrested for forgetting to pay for water under my cart it would be completely ridiculous. I always go back in to pay feeling like an idiot LOL Especially when I know some mothers are in there shopping with 2+ kids and can remember the things under the cart LOL!

[Sally888]

thats just the way the law is in the usa though....

[Shwa Girl]

I mean..come on! my mother forgot once her case of pepsi under the cart..she noticed it once at her car and she did turn back but imagine her getting caught?? geez..how many people forgot stuff under that darn cart??
.

Your mother was honest.

The stores have dishonest people trying to get away with the case under the cart, on a regular basis.

When I was a cashier, I saw the case of pop under the cart. The cheeky man said to me that he hadn't paid for pop in over a year and I was the first one to ask him about the case.

Stores lose a lot of money each year. Some people forget - honest mistakes.
Some people do it intentionally.

[Shwa Girl]

I agree with DaveP and everyone else. If you're hungry & you want something to eat or drink while shopping, you pay for it first. There was even 2 of them, so one could've gone thru the check out, while the other stayed with the daughter & the cart.
When I was a cashier, the store had zero tolerence for employees forgetting to pay for items for their break.

You were fired on the spot. There were spot checks of lockers and when you punched out at the end of the shift. No exceptions.


Sure the situation sucks, but it's their doing. Betcha they won't "forget" ever again.

Sorry that the stores are so strict. The stores are in their rights. The law would see it as, once an item is opened and consumed, it is theft of property from the store.

Many times people have eaten in the store and realized their debit or credit card was at home. At that point they go home for the debit or credit, but they are leaving the store with store merchandise in their stomach, not paid for.

+1

[Shwa Girl]

I watched a man at a store last week take a handful of lindt chocolates, unwrap them, and chop on them as he wandered through the store with his friend. They ended up behind me in line with a small jug of milk. I told him he should pay for the chocolates he ate while in the store and he told me to mind my own business. WELL...it is my business.

Many times parents give their child grapes, banana, apple to eat, before paying for these items. This is teaching a small child that it is o.k. to take things from the store before paying.

When the product is in the store, it is owned by the store.

When the store receives payment, the product is owned by the consumer.

When the product is removed from the store without payment, it's theft.

Sorry, the law is that black and white.
I feel bad for this family, but IMO, if she was feeling ill, she should have come in and purchased a few sandwiches, paid for them and went outside to sit down somewhere and eat and rest a bit before going back in and doing a grocery shop.
Stores routinely do random blitzes. They are trying to recover their losses that occur weekly, when customers consume or take products without paying. The store doesn't want to keep losing money due to theft.

+1

[orv]

Her being pregnant means nothing. I have seen people take there children in stores, fill the basket under and the top of the canopy, fold it up so it looks like nothing is there, and then walk out of the store.... so being pregnant/having a baby doesnt matter in some peoples minds. just sayin. she very well could have forgot. And I think the whole situation is a little blown out of proportion. I could see if she had a criminal record a mile long as a klepto.. but if its her first offence, one would hope that being caught would be enough of a scare to not try it again...

[Shwa Girl]

Sure she maybe "forgot" but it's so hard to tell these days. Precisely why you don't eat before you pay. They probably arrest who they can for stealing, as its become such a regular occurence.

When I worked at my tiddly walmart they had up to 200k of losses per year. Those $5 sandys add up.

The large chains of stores have multiple cameras all over the store.
Extra cameras are in the areas where there is more thefts.
Many cameras are at the checkouts.

The video evidence about the sandwiches being taken, unwrapped, eaten and not paid for, would be in the store's favour, in court.

The store where I worked, just took the person into the back room and waited with them until the police came. No interrogation. No explanation or tears would work. The police took the person in their squad car 99 per cent of time. They didn't care if it was a fine looking middle aged man, grandma or employee. All received the same treatment.

[FallenPixels]

The store did not take her kids away - they followed their procedures (the exact same one Walmart has in Canada, if you leave and are stopped by security (compared to walking back in yourself) they call the police. The police are always at my local WM which tells you the level of shoplifting)

The police called child services, and they put her in temporary care, quite likely because the family had just moved to Hawaii and knew no one to care for the child, because its not the norm for a kid to be taken, or it would be on the news more.

Sure, a sad train of events over something so minor, but if 20 people steal $5 each day, you have $36,500 a year in stolen merchandise, how many of us complain about rising prices of groceries - people stealing is part of that reason. Whether she meant to or not, she has to accept it happens to stores and they do need to have policies in place for when it does and enforce them equally

[Brandy Hunter]

Well, an accident or not its theft in the eyes of the law. I guess if you can't go into a store without "forgetting to pay" you should only shop online.

.. is that for me ?

[Sally888]

I didn't address it to anyone? Its common sense.

[Brandy Hunter]

Ok

[DianneS]

We are a tough crowd!!! To consume an item that is wrapped with a flimsy piece of plastic with a sticker on it and planning to pay later is pretty foolish. They had lots of options including paying for the sandwich first then shopping while eating. If she had taken a few crackers from a box and then closed the box and put it through the till, that would be more understandable. How is a retailer supposed to know if the people who are wandering through their store eating their merchandise have any intention of paying?

[Shwa Girl]

We are a tough crowd!!! To consume an item that is wrapped with a flimsy piece of plastic with a sticker on it and planning to pay later is pretty foolish. They had lots of options including paying for the sandwich first then shopping while eating. If she had taken a few crackers from a box and then closed the box and put it through the till, that would be more understandable. How is a retailer supposed to know if the people who are wandering through their store eating their merchandise have any intention of paying?

Yes, maybe we are tough.
After a while, seeing the same situation of forgetting to pay, or intentionally taking the items, it becomes tiring. The stores have lost compassion because of the die hard thieves. The stores and employees are exhausted and don't have time to pick and choose the good customers and the bad customers.