Can walmart or police charge you for shoplifting if you didn't get caught with the item on you at all going out of the store? I mean what if they have you on camera going into the bathroom and coming out with nothing and go back and find an empty box. Can they charge you next time you enter walmart?
2006-12-16 16:26:16 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
My best friend works for a fast food place inside walmart, she told me that the police come in and found dvd cases with the disc gone. She says she didn't do it( I think she did) but she told me that she was taking dvd's into the store but paying for them when she got off work. She says the cops told her she is on tape taking dvd's inside so she is worried but she told me that it's been like 2 months since she took them inside the store, how long does Walmart keep footage stored? The resturant is wide open to the store, no doors and employees of walmart come in and out when they are closed. There is no sign up saying you can't take items beyond this point so what can they do? It has been a month since it happened.
2006-12-16 17:13:23 · update #1
Can the police try to prosecute her if Walmart decides not to? The police went to a pawn shop yesterday and ask if they had anyone pawning alot of dvd's and told the owner that they had my friend on tape. Can they do this? The reason she knew this is becuase she is friends with the pawn shop owner. Maybe the police know they are friends and trying to scare her. Thanks for all the replies, my friend feels alot better she has been so worried that they will arrest her for something she didn't do.
2006-12-17 09:46:44 · update #2
Don't steal anything and then you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand that is a good question. I would think that they would have to know who you are by the video, because it's not like they are going to always be watching to see when you enter the store
2006-12-16 16:28:38 · answer #1 · answered by itza_mea 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I know in Canada, no. I used to work in Zellers (Walmart Jr.),
and we were trained that an employee has to see the entire thing before one can make a citizen's arrest. Also, charges have to be made one the customer is past the register. Even if a employee were to lose an eye on the customer for one second, we cannot arrest them or charge them with anything other than if the alarm at the front goes off and we search the customer.
Cameras cannot allow for arrest of a person unless the act is continuous or violent. However, that customer will be monitored if he/she is to come to the store again. Most employees are given faces of known offenders and we were told to keep a careful eye especially if we saw them again. because if you steal something from a store, they are more likely steal again.
Often, even competitors will share faces of shop lifters, or there is a common info database in which many chain stores can access. It contains faces of a certain area that have been caught before or caught on camera and this info is used to help prevent shoplifting in the future. So an offender would have to be wary at almost all the stores in an area possibly.
**UPDATE- The police maybe doing that for scare technique. Because if they get scared, they are more likely to admit they dunnit.
2006-12-16 16:34:35 · answer #2 · answered by takuwan_199 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, if they did not catch you with anything on your person, then it is not an issue. If you take something and hide it in your coat but are still in the store, than it is called concealment. However, most pigs want to catch you leaving the store with the item and they will wait outside for you so they can charge you with shoplifting rather than concealment. If you took an item to the bathroom and the camera sees you clearly walking in the bathroom with the item and they an empty carton that was the item, than they can assume you flushed it down the toilet or you ate it and it could be destruction of property. If they tell you you cannot return to the store anymore, than they could get you for trespassing. Hope this helps. By the way, what did you stick up your rectum anyway?
2006-12-16 16:48:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Wal-Mart associates or a member of management must actually see someone stealing something. If that person suspects they are being watched and they ditch the item in the bathroom or in another part of the store, management cannot hold them because they ditched the item. The person has to actually have the item they stole in their possession in order to be charged with shoplifting. Wal-Mart cannot hold a person the next time they enter a Wal-Mart unless they steal something that day. All they can do is keep an eye out for the person the next time they come in to Wal-Mart.
2006-12-17 08:31:20 · answer #4 · answered by SeahawkFan37 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Without any more details than what you have given here, then the answer is going to be NO. All your friend has to do is continue to deny ever stealing them. The store does have a policy in place that guides them to legally apprehending a shoplifter and from what it sounds like here, the four points of apprehension were not in place. Your friend, whether she stole them or not, has nothing to worry about. I do hope however, that your friend is not a thief, or at the very least, a recovering Klepto.
2006-12-16 17:32:09 · answer #5 · answered by jim e 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they don't catch you with anything on your person, they would have the weakest case in history. The box could have been left there by anyone. Your fingerprints could be on it because you picked it up in the bathroom, who knows? If they didn't stop you at all before leaving, it's doubtful they are going to end up doing anything. Rule of thumb- don't put yourself in the position that you have to ask these questions online.
2006-12-16 17:12:51 · answer #6 · answered by michattorney 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am waiting for them to accuse me of theft. I am foaming at the mouth waiting and licking my lips at the slighest chance to drag thoes fat pigs into court and sue them for as much as I can get for putting me through ANY kind of false detention or arrest..
But I do not shop in that store nor would I ever in the future.
2006-12-16 18:24:27 · answer #7 · answered by caciansf 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would have to say no...but not certain. Laws with shoplifting state that you have to have eyes on the person the entire time...observe them approach merchandise, observe them conceal it, observe them continuously so you know they don't put it back and then observe them going to leave the scene/store before you can do anything. But consult a lawyer if you really want to know for sure.
2006-12-16 16:29:35 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
They can charge you all they want. Proving is something else. If it is false, you may have grounds for a defamation lawsuit.
2006-12-16 16:36:28 · answer #9 · answered by Sophist 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
dont really know but they would soon change that policy cos most people are now stealing from walmart
2006-12-16 16:29:40 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋