Walmart Issue

[obelkouteb]

Florida
Hello and how are you? I had an issue at Walmart where I was accused of shoplifting. I was at the self checkout and a man had had forgotten his phone so I quickly ran and gave it to him when i got back I scanned all my items except one that was under the cart (which i had forgotten about, i feel maybe it was due to the distraction). So while i was walking towards the door I was stopped by a loss prevention officer and he asked me about the item under my cart, I told him I had forgotten about it and I insisted on paying for it. He said no and took me to a room where I was coerced to admitting that my intentions were to shoplift. I kept explaining to them I have no reason to and that I was distracted. They eventually threatened me to the point I was forced to unwillingly admit to something I did not do, they had contacted an officer who read me my Miranda rights and cuffed me. I then asked to speak to him alone and told him what had happened and he later release me on the site. I am now told I have to pay a 200 dollar fee for shoplifting, I have tried everything to reason and explain to these people what had happened. I also later mentioned to the loss prevention employees that i may involve a lawyer and they yelled at me for supposedly threatening them. They did not want to give me their names nor their contact information. I don't understand how they can hurt someone emotionally, threaten, etc. and get away with it and I have to pay the fine. I reviewed the police report and it says exactly what I stated. The officer clearly told me he saw there was no intent, I am not able to afford the 200 dollars especially for something so ridicule. Is there any legal action I can take, I hope you guys could give me some legal advice of some sort of actions I can take.

More info
Item was worth roughly:14 dollars
Letter from their attorney for a fine of 200 dollars
There is no court date, the charges were dropped but will it be on my record especially if there was no intent?
Thanks

 

[racer72]

Don't pay the fine. Then wait for Walmart to sue you. Then you will get your day in court. And because of this:

admit to something I did not do

you will lose. At this point you have suffered no monetary damages and have nothing to sue for. Leaving a store with unpaid merchandise for any reason is considered shoplifting.

 

[obelkouteb]

So you are saying there is nothing I can do? I will clearly lose? My intention isn't to sue, I just don't want to pay the fine and don't want anything on my record.

 

[LdiJ]

Florida
Hello and how are you? I had an issue at Walmart where I was accused of shoplifting. I was at the self checkout and a man had had forgotten his phone so I quickly ran and gave it to him when i got back I scanned all my items except one that was under the cart (which i had forgotten about, i feel maybe it was due to the distraction). So while i was walking towards the door I was stopped by a loss prevention officer and he asked me about the item under my cart, I told him I had forgotten about it and I insisted on paying for it. He said no and took me to a room where I was coerced to admitting that my intentions were to shoplift. I kept explaining to them I have no reason to and that I was distracted. They eventually threatened me to the point I was forced to unwillingly admit to something I did not do, they had contacted an officer who read me my Miranda rights and cuffed me. I then asked to speak to him alone and told him what had happened and he later release me on the site. I am now told I have to pay a 200 dollar fee for shoplifting, I have tried everything to reason and explain to these people what had happened. I also later mentioned to the loss prevention employees that i may involve a lawyer and they yelled at me for supposedly threatening them. They did not want to give me their names nor their contact information. I don't understand how they can hurt someone emotionally, threaten, etc. and get away with it and I have to pay the fine. I reviewed the police report and it says exactly what I stated. The officer clearly told me he saw there was no intent, I am not able to afford the 200 dollars especially for something so ridicule. Is there any legal action I can take, I hope you guys could give me some legal advice of some sort of actions I can take.

More info
Item was worth roughly:14 dollars
Letter from their attorney for a fine of 200 dollars
There is no court date, the charges were dropped but will it be on my record especially if there was no intent?
Thanks

You were never charged so there are no charges to drop. You were never arrested so nothing will show on your record.

I know of at least 3 or 4 people who, on the advice of their attorney, flat out refused to pay the civil demand made by Walmart, and nothing further ever happened. However, should Walmart choose to sue you, and if they sue you and win, you could end up paying a whole lot more than 200.00 (their attorney fees and court costs, interest, your attorney etc) so you have to weigh the risks and decide.

 

[obelkouteb]

Thank you for the advice, but now I have another question. How do I get the file taken out of public record, I want it to disappear. And is there by any chance I can get the TWR revoked.

TWR is a trespassing warning paper.

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for the advice, but now I have another question. How do I get the file taken out of public record, I want it to disappear. And is there by any chance I can get the TWR revoked.

TWR is a trespassing warning paper.

Why would it be removed from the "public record"? (Whatever that means)

You can't force Walmart to allow you to enter their store(s)

 

[obelkouteb]

What I mean is the file is available for public record, at the public records office. And can we get it removed from public record? And the TWR isn't much of a concern for me.

 

[Zigner]

What I mean is the file is available for public record, at the public records office. And can we get it removed from public record? And the TWR isn't much of a concern for me.

http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=13

What "file" do you think is available? And, what do you think that file may contain?

 

[obelkouteb]

the TWR and the police report, sorry hate to bother you guys

 

[Ohiogal]

the TWR and the police report, sorry hate to bother you guys

Nope. You are not going to get that removed from public record due to you being embarrassed.

Quite frankly you were stopped while shoplifting. You had an excuse. But you were shoplifting.

 

[Eekamouse]

Your excuse for shoplifting doesn't ring true and quite frankly, stores everywhere have been hearing your tired old excuse for years. You WERE shoplifting and you were caught. You have no defense. Pay the $200 and learn from this experience to double check to make sure you have paid for everything you're attempting to walk out of the store with.

 

[Zigner]

To be fair, I have walked out of a store and missed an item in the basket. This usually happened to me with a 12-pack of soda on the bottom of the cart. Now, between training myself to double-check after all is emptied and the store I shop at having sensors that actually ring up those items (wow), it hasn't happened in a long long time.

 

[obelkouteb]

I'm sure every store has heard the excuse your right. But there is evidence to prove the distraction, there is footage of me being distracted. It won't hold in court but someone at loss prevention may have good intentions in helping me. So don't accuse me, the shopping cart it self is WALMART property. I probably would of never even picked up the merchandise under the cart because I wouldn't have remembered it. So theoretically the merchandise would have never left Walmart property. I know it wouldn't hold up in a legal setting but people still have some morals, ethics, and all right?

 

[Eekamouse]

What are you saying? That you would not have loaded it into your car because it was on the bottom of the cart? What does the cart being Walmart property have to do with anything? You completely lost me there.

 

[Zigner]

I'm sure every store has heard the excuse your right. But there is evidence to prove the distraction, there is footage of me being distracted. It won't hold in court but someone at loss prevention may have good intentions in helping me. So don't accuse me, the shopping cart it self is WALMART property. I probably would of never even picked up the merchandise under the cart because I wouldn't have remembered it. So theoretically the merchandise would have never left Walmart property. I know it wouldn't hold up in a legal setting but people still have some morals, ethics, and all right?

Everything falls apart because you CONFESSED.