Pregnant Mom Arrested Because a Sandwhich!

[DaveP]

I agree with those who are saying she has no case. On rare occasions my wife and I have gone into the grocery store and grabbed a small bottle of Coke from the cooler and drank it while shopping. But of course we paid for it, how is it possible to forget to pay for it? After all, the empty bottle is right there in the shopping cart. If we left the empty bottle somewhere in the store then clearly we are shoplifting. Duh. Where were her sandwich wrappers? They should have been right there in her cart which makes it impossible for it to 'accidentally' slip her mind to pay for them.

[FallenPixels]

I really don't understand how hard it is to pay and then go into the store and shop, especially when there is two of them and one could carry on shopping while the other goes to pay
Why is this even news? Sure, you offer to pay when you get caught and don't want to be arrested!

[erin9mmm]

Yes, but they obviously didn't even have the wrapper in the cart, so it makes me wonder if they were really ever going to pay.

She says in the video that they did have the wrapper in the cart and didn't try to conceal anything.

Personally I feel sorry for them and am on their side. While I'm not one for agreeing with eating while in the store she did say she is pregnant and was feeling faint. I think the store should be ashamed of themselves. You have to look at each case separately and use your best judgement -which that store did not. Also if they have any grounds for a case I would think it would have to do with the unnecessary distress put on their daughter to be taken away from her parents (over sandwiches), especially considering they had just moved there.

It seems like people have forgotten about compassion and understanding these days.

[Tantum]

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.

As for the daughter being taken away, the same would happen here in Canada. You broke the law while your daughter was present. Where was the daughter suppose to go while mommy & daddy are arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail? Would it have been more appropriate for the 2 yr old to sit beside them in the back of the police cruiser? Perhaps they should have been given the chance to call a family or friend to come get her, but it's nobody else's job to watch her until someone can come get her. That's what child protection is for...to be there for a child when the parents can't or are unable to care for their child.

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

[hollyquaiscer]

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. I pay more when the store takes a loss, you pay more when the store takes a loss. Not sure about elsewhere, but around here, all the stores have signs that say pay for it before you bag it (as most of us use reusable bags). This would also include food you eat. We all think a candy here, a few cherries there, no big deal, but it is.

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. She may have forgotten, or thought maybe we can get away with it since no-one has seen us and the cashier didn't mention the wrappers I have in the cart.

A bit extreme, yes, should they be charged, yes. Just my opinion.

[Brandy Hunter]

Yes, but they obviously didn't even have the wrapper in the cart, so it makes me wonder if they were really ever going to pay.

Bella We are talking about another country, their laws are different then ours, it's standard practice to be arrested for shoplifting, it's nothing new there.

Wether its a $100 item or a $5 item it's still theft under 5000. It's no different then stealing a few nail polishes, do you think they should get off offering to pay when caught? I don't.

I think shes getting more sympathy because she was pregnant, and really that doesn't even matter. People get arrested everyday for theiving $5 items.

I'm giving sympathy because I HAVE walked out of the store a couple times with things without paying, on accident. And most of the time when I went back and the people were laughing because they knew what happened. Before I bought Sparky.. yep, walked out with him. I was just holding him and my phone rang and I stepped outside, and it turns out I still was holding him.

That's only the tip of the iceburg. I'm super forgetful and i'm always thinking about something way off in the distance.

BUT, I passed out at walmart in the check-out line a couple summers ago, and right before I opened a bottle of water and I remember the guy saying "Ma'am, are you paying for that?" I wanted to throw the bottle in his face. YES, but do you not see me passed out on the floor? And your main concern is a 2$ water.

[erin9mmm]

^^^My niece was in a child carrying back pack harness (not sure of the correct name), anyways they were out shopping and to make a long story short, three stores later they realized she had a shoe in her hand from the shoe store. They went back and apologized and returned it.
....she wasn't arrested.

[Brandy Hunter]

I can't imagine being arrested for what i've done (which, have all been on accident) i'd probably just cry.

[SarahS83]

Yes she;s pregnant and yes that can make you hungry, hormonal and forgetful but what's his excuse?

[gameprogirl]

They should have just taken her money for the sandwich and thats it. Seems like it was just forgetfulness

[Mia001]

IMHO, Some people must be weight when they step in the store and when they leave the said store....especially in groceries....too many abusers in the fruit section.....i even heard some people from the trailers and from the boats braging about the fact they had their breakfeast in the fruit dept. in a grocery store nearby.....
why should i pay more for my fruits because of some 'fortunates* pick-plates' (pique-asiettes) tourists....????

[Kalmel]

The whole story gives me cramps.

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??
My son left almost zellers with some stickers once. He was 4 and while i was about to leave the store he said thanks for the stickers! Da what?. Their as be some common sense somewhere ...are we all that perfect that no room is left for mistakes. In both situations..my mom could of been arrested and me for my son's stickers..Ridiculous!

Geez.... i'm sorry but last time i checked nobody was perfect and mistakes..forgetting something can happen to ANYBODY... each situation should be treated differently.... common sense as left the building.

[Brandy Hunter]

I agree with the weighing of the fruit, it should have to be weighed almost like the Deli or seafood depts.

[Syn]

I can't even count how many times my son (when he was between 2-4) would put things in his stroller while I was shopping, only to leave the store and when taking him out notice his collection of goodies, I always went back and paid or returned whatever his little hands grabbed. Not once was I arrested, not once was I frowned upon. Things happen, we all get forgetful, or stressed out to the point where the simplest things escape our minds. Tell me you haven't left the house in the morning without brushing your teeth? Even though you do it daily, depending on what is going on in that mind of yours it could happen. It's happened to me. More than once.

They paid for the 50.00 dollars worth of groceries, if they were really out to be thieves, do you honestly think they would have paid the 50 bucks?

The store should be ashamed, where is the common sense here? Evaluate the situation and act accordingly, sending a child into protective services and two people to jail (which btw will always be on file now) over 2 2.50 sammiches, is ridulously extreme.

[Sally888]

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.