wal-mart and my teenaged son...please anyone, i need advise.?

Question

Hello, I am the mother of a 16 yr old boy whom
worked for wal-mart. we live in Arizona (phoenix) he was arrested and detained by walmarts Loss prevention security. they held him in the back room and question him for 3 hours. they told him he was accused of theft & they had him on video stealing money from a register. He asked LP to let him call his mother and the Lp said no! He had his own phone, but the security still said no. he then left him alone in the back room and did not let him go to the bathroom. an hour later police came in to arrest him. the charges were theft. the police took him in to jail where my son chose to remain silent The police liked my boy. they said he was extremely coopoertive and very kind. However the thing here is he said nothing to the police but confessed to wal-marts security cause he was scared. . did walmart security do the right thing by not letting him call his mother? can they do that? 2 hrs latr he was released, never fingerprinted nor mugshot.

I forgot to mention that my son has never been in any kind of trouble before nor has he stolen large amounts of money. he did whats called an over write where the price of an item was changed. everyone there does this and they tought him to do it. basically, the crowd that works for wallmart is a bad crowd and influence him to buy things cheap for less than the asking price. they do this for eachother. I hope he learns his lesson as well but like i said, this kid is a good kid, he is a junior police officer in training, he was mislead by other peers and now regrets it. the reason why the police let him go puzzles us alot. no mugshot no fingerprints and no bail. hwe was told he was nice and had no previous convictions and that was it. I wonder if we'll have to go to court still. he was not given any papers or any court date. all they told him was to stay out of trouble and they wil be checking on him once a week. i have never heard of such a thing.

Answer 1

First off, the "rules" regarding phone calls relate to police (government) conduct, not Wal-Mart security.

Second, calling for your mommy doesn't make the bad man go away. A police officer doesn't have to stop questioning a juvenile if he asks for a parent. Once again, security officers don't count.

As for no fingerprint or"mugshot", if he was not booked in juvenile hall, there would be no fingerprints or booking photo. In most states, juveniles who are charged with lesser crimes are to be released to their parents pending a hearing.

Answer 2

If wal-mart has video tape of him stealing, then he was stealing and got caught. What he said to security is irrelevant if they have video evidence. If he plead guilty it may be admissible because he was not yet under arrest, and wal-mart does not have the authority to arrest someone - they can only detain someone while waiting for the police respond. Secondly if he was an employee, the employer can question an employee and those responses would fall under rules of evidence.

The store security had the right to detain him and as long as they called the police in a timely matter, wal-mart is not at fault if the police took a long time in answering the call. Usually when someone is arrested, they are not allowed a phone call until after they have been booked... according to your own account, he was never fingerprinted nor had his photo taken. That seems very strange to me... there is more to the story than you are telling or you don't know the whole story yourself.

If he was fired from wal-mart then he probably did do something wrong/illegal. If he is getting into trouble at 16, things aren't looking very promising for his future... he will need to get off the drugs/alcohol (NA or AA might be helpful) and go to college, it's his best hope. If he has not been using drugs/alcohol and is guilty, then there is something else is seriously wrong and he'll still need to get some help.

Answer 3

If your son committed a crime he was wrong and we can't shift the blame to his peers. The mugshots and no finger prints are not uncommon for juvenile offenders because they are juveniles and are not processed the same as adults. Most juveniles are processed by taking of their information and the completion of a juvenile report and then released to their parents or guardians. The completed juvenile report is forwarded to the juvenile court where you will be advised of the court date. So this don't mean your son wasn't charged and you may be notified by mail. Walmart may have overstepped their boundaries by not allowing him to use the bathroom or his own personal phone. I would contact the Police Department to see if he was charged and what were the charges. I would then contact an attorney in reference to the actions taken by Walmart. I would also add that if he was charged he has the same rights to legal counsel as an adult being that if he can't afford an attorney one should be appointed by the court. His juvenile records should be sealed by the courts once he reaches age 18. I would make sure he learned his lesson form this, there are no excuses nor should you try to excuse or dismiss his actions.

Answer 4

Walmart does not distinguish between an adult thief and a juvenile thief, nor should they. Walmart does not have to let anyone let alone a teenager call their parents when they are busted. Instead of being mad at Walmart, why not be mad at your son if they indeed have video of him stealing from a register? Also for future ref...police do NOT have to allow you one phone call either when you are arrested either. It is a courtesy.

I suggest you obtain a lawyer and find out why they held your son 3 hrs for questioning and the police didn't arrive til another hour later. If he confessed to Walmart security...whether orally or in a written statement, that can be challenged in court as a confession under duress. However, it is best to find out if Walmart indeed has your son on video stealing cash.

Answer 5

In Texas, if someone is detained by security for theft or shoplifting, they have to immediately call for law enforcement. They can detain someone, but do not have powers of arrest. The biq question is when did they call law enforcement. Was the delay because they did not call, or did it tiake the police that long to get there because the system was overloaded with higher priority calls. They stepped over the line by not letting him use the bathroom or calling you. You can file a complaint with the police, and it may or may not go anywhere. You can talk to the DA's office, and might have a little better luck with them. You'll probably be left with a civil action, but you'll have to hire an attorney to do that.

Answer 6

As a minor he should have been read his rights and anything he stated prior should not be allowed in a court of law. It was not right that he was held without calling his mother however walmart loss prevention are not law enforcement and can only detain someone not arrest. If they have him on video then the police officer must observe it to make an arrest.

Answer 7

They cannot deny a juvenile the right to a parent. Also in most States you cannot detain someone more than an hour. You cannot refuse bathroom privileges either. I'd say you have a lawsuit.
The confession was made under severe duress. He was scared and not allowed his civil rights as a juvenile. Sue the hell out of them They will probably settle out of court.
If he has gone to court and been convicted of theft, you may still have a suit for Wal-Mart violating juvenile rights.

Answer 8

Pagans initially celebrated their holiday journeys with embellished evergreen wood, candles, present-giving, feasting, making a music, and so on. that's why the Bible FORBIDS using "Christmas wood" in Jeremiah 10:2-4. Christians hijacked the holiday journeys so it would be much less complicated to transform Pagans (until eventually now they began killing people who resisted). Walmart is a company. If Jesus grow to be relatively the reason for the Christians' season, rather of finding out to purchase, Wal-Mart (and maximum different shops) might in all likelihood be out of company via now.

Answer 9

There are two issues here:

One it didn't take the police 3 hours to get there so LP stalled the call to question him.

Two: it is against the law to detain and question a minor without the approval of the parent/guardian.

You need to get a copy of the police report and get a lawyer for purposes of a civil lawsuit.


(I'll take my normal 1% fee, in small bills)

Answer 10

Truth is... he should consider himself lucky he wasn't charged. LP had the right to detain your son as they 'found him committing', they're not the police so they didn't have to grant him a phone call. They can also say that they didn't allow your son to use the washroom facilities for their own safety. (He could have had a concealed weapon under his clothes and could not remove handcuffs).

However, just because they followed legal policy and procedures, there were definitely some moral issues that were ignored.