Is it true that if your shoplifting, the workers of a store can't do anything till your walking out the door?

Question

I heard once that untill someone actually walks out the door or puts an item in the bag of another store, you can't be caught shoplifting because you still have a chane to pay. I heard this from the manager of a company I use to work for. If this is true, could someone give me a link to some page where it shows this little detail?

ok so does anyone know of a site or book i can find this in to prove it cause a friend of mine got in trouble for shoplifting, he had some stuff in his pocket and he was at the register... his stuff wwas being rang up and the manager told the cashier not to bother and called the cops before he was even rung up.

Answer 1

Shoplifting involves carrying, concealing, or otherwise manipulating any merchandise out of the store with the intent of stealing it. Shoplifting laws also consider it illegal to modify price tags, commit refund fraud, remove a shopping cart or any other commercial property from a store location, or intentionally using an illegal form of payment. Individuals can be prosecuted for acting with intent to shoplift even if the shoplifting was never fully carried out .

Answer 2

Larceny (which means shoplifting) crimes requires that you (1) take the property of another (2) with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property.

So, to establish the intent element, and not permit a defense, the best practices (to get a conviction) is to let the person attempt to leave so that you can prove it up.

One of the biggest excuses when caught is, "oh, I forgot I put that in my pocket. Look I have the money, I was going to pay for it..." It looks like your friend is going to make that claim....the judges have heard it a MILLION times. Also depends on any camera footage. For example, does your friend look around before he uses his pocket like a shopping basket? That's indicia of guilt. I think your friend may have a loser case, depending on all his circumstances as intent was established by putting it in his pocket and not producing it at the register. Not open and shut, but close.

Some stores stop someone if they actually catch them in the act and just ask the person to leave the store.

It's a combination of store policy and what the law requires to prove the offense.

Answer 3

Laws vary from one jurisdiction to another so check your local laws.

In Georgia, USA however, this is definitely NOT true. There are several different ways of course but assuming you're shoplifting the most common way, the crime occurs the MOMENT you conceal the item. But a lot of stores have a policy that they will not attempt to make a case until the offender passes the register or leaves the store even. They don't have to wait "by LAW" though.

(O.C.G.A. § 16-8-14 -- Theft by Shoplifting)

(a) A person commits the offense of theft by shoplifting when he alone or in concert with another person, with the intent of appropriating merchandise to his own use without paying for the same or to deprive the owner of possession thereof or of the value thereof, in whole or in part, does any of the following:

(1) Conceals or takes possession of the goods or merchandise of any store or retail establishment;

(2) Alters the price tag or other price marking on goods or merchandise of any store or retail establishment;

(3) Transfers the goods or merchandise of any store or retail establishment from one container to another;

(4) Interchanges the label or price tag from one item of merchandise with a label or price tag for another item of merchandise; or

(5) Wrongfully causes the amount paid to be less than the merchant's stated price for the merchandise.

Answer 4

I don't think it's a legal thing as much as it is a "store policy" thing. Stores don't want to get sued, so they give you every opportunity to pay for the merchandise. You're not going to find store policies on the Internet. Go work a retail job for a few days--it'll be in the training. They tell clerks to watch shoplifters, but not stop them until they go past the registers. Keep in mind for those shoplifters, there's usually someone WAITING at the door for them. I've seen managers even chase folks down, so don't anyone go getting any ideas. ;)

Answer 5

The answer to this depends upon the law in your jurisdiction. In my jurisdiction, for example (but without using the language of the law), shoplifting is the concealment of an item with the intent to deprive the owner of the item or its value. So, concealing the item on one's person within the store may be evidence of the crime. Better evidence of the crime is concealing the item on one's person within the store and not presenting it at the register. Best evidence of the crime is concealing the item on one's person within the store and not presenting it at the register and walking out the door.

But this will all depend on how the law is written in your state or jurisdiction.

Answer 6

At least until you make an attempt to leave the store, there's really no grounds to prove you didn't intend to pay, so no, they won't go after you. They will likely call their loss prevention people and get them over to watch you though.

Most companies also tell everyone besides their managers and loss prevention people to not go out the front doors after anyone.

Answer 7

What kind of detail are you looking for?

If you are going to arrest someone from shoplifting, you don't want them to be able to use the defense of "I was going to pay, I hadn't gotten to the registers yet."

So, you have to wait until they leave the store -- or, at least until they've passed the registers and are on their way out.

Answer 8

If he was to call the cops AFTER he paid, most likely he would have been GONE by the time the cops showed up.

If you go through the line, and don't put your stuff on the counter to pay for it, then leave the counter, and head for the door, they will stop you.

Answer 9

They can't stop you until you attempt to get past the cash register OR actually conceal the item in a way that you can't readily get to it to pay for it at the register. As for a link, how about a few cases instead. Look to the state of California.

Answer 10

this is true. when people get trained to work at a store, they are trained, if they see someone trying to steal something, to try to convince a person to give it back which then people usually do or to let them know they saw them.