Retail theft

[Karivan]

I live in Illinois and I was recently given a notice to appear for retail theft. But here is the situation.. I was checking out and forgot that I bought a phone card so I had to take $50 dollars off of what I had in the cart so I was sorting out what I absolutely needed and what was only needed if I had the money. Well I had a friend with me who proceeded to check out and was waiting for me. When she came back in after taking her objects out She just started grabbing items and throwing them in a bag and got me all confused. Well while I was paying she took my cart and tried to go out the door and an employee stopped her. When I got done paying the associate told me I needed to go with them while I had no clue what was going on. Well my friend ended up anwering my cell phone and went outside and left. While I was having a panic attack not knowing what was going on. The Wal-Mart staff then dumped my purse out and all of my groceries and other items and proceeded to check them with my receipt. When the police finally arrived they told me what had happened and showed me the video of check out. And I could tell I was ringing items up and placing others off to the side. Then her starting to just grab and bag. But I am the only one who got the retail theft charge she walked away Scott free. How can I prove that I did not know what was going on and that I was not the one who stole the items. I left about 10 items in the other cart because I knew I could not get them. How do I prove it should of been her not me that received the ticket.

 

[Eekamouse]

These were your purchases. Why didn't you stop her from helping you? Why didn't you tell her you needed to set aside some things because you didn't have the money to pay for them? Sounds like it IS your theft, not hers. You knew how much money you had. How did you forget you spent some of your money on a phone card anyway? That sounds like an excuse you've come up with after you were caught stealing.

 

[Eekamouse]

I live in Illinois and I was recently given a notice to appear for retail theft. But here is the situation.. I was checking out and forgot that I bought a phone card so I had to take $50 dollars off of what I had in the cart so I was sorting out what I absolutely needed and what was only needed if I had the money. Well I had a friend with me who proceeded to check out and was waiting for me. When she came back in after taking her objects out She just started grabbing items and throwing them in a bag and got me all confused. Well while I was paying she took my cart and tried to go out the door and an employee stopped her. When I got done paying the associate told me I needed to go with them while I had no clue what was going on. Well my friend ended up anwering my cell phone and went outside and left. While I was having a panic attack not knowing what was going on. The Wal-Mart staff then dumped my purse out and all of my groceries and other items and proceeded to check them with my receipt. When the police finally arrived they told me what had happened and showed me the video of check out. And I could tell I was ringing items up and placing others off to the side. Then her starting to just grab and bag. But I am the only one who got the retail theft charge she walked away Scott free. How can I prove that I did not know what was going on and that I was not the one who stole the items. I left about 10 items in the other cart because I knew I could not get them. How do I prove it should of been her not me that received the ticket.

That panic attack was when you realized you were caught for stealing. Trying to blame your accomplice and being angry that you were the only one caught when you were both in it together makes you look worse, not better and certainly not innocent.

 

[Karivan]

Ok so here is how I do it every time I have used self check and have never had an issue til this time.
I always when I buy a phone card set it in the child seat area under my purse so it Don't fall out of my cart since it is just a small piece of cardboard. So when I got to the self check I went and grabbed a second cart. (yes we have the ones with the belt but they are almost never on) moved my purse to the upper basket of 2nd cart. Then I noticed the phone card. I had everything in the basket totalled almost perfect. Might of been a few dollars off. Now u almost have to know my friend well acquaintance she has a 1 track mind and no matter how much I try telling her I have a system she always trys to help. Well this day there was no talking her down. We both had worked 3rd shift and had to wait til 3 to get our paychecks. Now mind u this was payday for about 600 people and to top it off a lot of them got snap that day also. So it was a chaotic mess anyways. So I was trying to rush because crowds set off my anxiety even more, and when there is a line waiting it really gets me going. I normally do all my shopping in the middle of the night when no one is there less anxiety for me. But since she had a few things to grab I decided I would just grab the few things i needed at that time. She went out to the truck and smoked a cig and came in once and rushed me and I told her I miscalculated now I have to sort. So she went back outside about 5 min and seen that I had stuff stacked next to machine and stuff still in the cart. She then kinda got huffy cuz I was not done and I said I will b in a min. And I called a cashier over cuz I needed more bags. Once the new bags were on the holder she was like we don't have time for this and started grabbing stuff that I had set next to the scanner. Now mind u it was on the unscanned side and she just started grabbing stuff I told her to slow down and she just kept saying we did not have time to slow down. She asked if anything else was going and I looked at the cart and said no i am at my limit. And paid for my items did not even think to look if stuff she grabbed was scanned. So as I was paying she took off like a bag out of hell with my cart to get it in the truck. Then I stood there and rang up 4 items I grabbed for my baby sitter paid for those and pretty much got grabbed up and told to go with them. While I was asking what happened what is going on they kept telling me to shut up, quit acting stupid, I knew what I did and quit trying to make a scene. Now mind u my friend is gone she says she will be right back she needs to call and tell them we will b late and she hitched a ride out of there. So I have no clue what's going on, what I did, and now I am alone. So yes my anxiety was already up Cuz of the crowd now it is even higher cuz I am in a 8x8 room no Windows only tons and tons of computer equipment and 2 chairs. She grabs my purse dumps it out on the ground, grabbed my wallet for my I'd all while I am freaking out cuz I was being yelled at and made feel guilty, while I am in the middle of this attack the lady then proceeds to tell me oh I am on an antidepressant and Xanax too your faking now mind u I take 5 different medicines for my depression, anxiety and different mood disorders so it was more then just a little panic attack. Oh ya have I mentioned I have never ever been in trouble. Only thing on my record is a childsupport case, 1 seatbelt ticket ( got because I put car in gear then put seatbelt on) that is it. The other girl has 4 criminal misdemeanors and is going for a felony case at the moment. And before she tried to leave with my cart she took her own cart out with stolen items I it. I could of paid for everything that was stolen I had the money but I wanted to hold some money back to take my kids to the zoo that weekend. And don't u think I would of tried getting everything I could but no I left a cart full of stuff that I was gonna have my old man come back for. So yes it was my cart but I had no clue almost everything she bagged went across the scannerbut she told me later her hand was over bar code

 

[Karivan]

I even offered for them to take my cart rescan all of it and I would pay what the difference was. I mean it was gonna be a boring weekend but at least I would not be a criminal. I am a CNA have been for 12 yrs, halfway through nursing school, I am an emt, all of that is gone if I get this charge. I have even done work with our local and county police. I am the dfurthest thing from a criminal. I have worked way to hard and spent way to much money on all of my certificates and training to throw it all away over 48.79. I know it's only a misdemeanor but still theft automatically disqualifys all that I have worked so hard for and it is not the example that I want my kids to see. I was so proud to show them that even though I was a single mother most of their lives I still acomplished all this. I just recently in the last year started dating again. And on top of all my nursing stuff have also started taking auto mechanics, welding, and semi truck driving, because I now own my own scrap and farm cleaning company. I don't need to steal, I have money, I just did not have enough money on me at the moment, and my boyfriend had the debit card cuz he had to do a tow job and haul it to the junk yard so he needed to fuel up the tow truck. But my life is over and the officer even say there when he showed up and said that I scanned all of it But 1 97 vent cup but I had another in my hand that I scanned twice because I noticed it did not scan before I dropped it. And I felt so bad because me and that officer do work together all the time for parade routes and other events around town that need help but not enough officers

 

[Eekamouse]

Ok so here is how I do it every time I have used self check and have never had an issue til this time.
I always when I buy a phone card set it in the child seat area under my purse so it Don't fall out of my cart since it is just a small piece of cardboard. So when I got to the self check I went and grabbed a second cart. (yes we have the ones with the belt but they are almost never on) moved my purse to the upper basket of 2nd cart. Then I noticed the phone card. I had everything in the basket totalled almost perfect. Might of been a few dollars off. Now u almost have to know my friend well acquaintance she has a 1 track mind and no matter how much I try telling her I have a system she always trys to help. Well this day there was no talking her down. We both had worked 3rd shift and had to wait til 3 to get our paychecks. Now mind u this was payday for about 600 people and to top it off a lot of them got snap that day also. So it was a chaotic mess anyways. So I was trying to rush because crowds set off my anxiety even more, and when there is a line waiting it really gets me going. I normally do all my shopping in the middle of the night when no one is there less anxiety for me. But since she had a few things to grab I decided I would just grab the few things i needed at that time. She went out to the truck and smoked a cig and came in once and rushed me and I told her I miscalculated now I have to sort. So she went back outside about 5 min and seen that I had stuff stacked next to machine and stuff still in the cart. She then kinda got huffy cuz I was not done and I said I will b in a min. And I called a cashier over cuz I needed more bags. Once the new bags were on the holder she was like we don't have time for this and started grabbing stuff that I had set next to the scanner. Now mind u it was on the unscanned side and she just started grabbing stuff I told her to slow down and she just kept saying we did not have time to slow down. She asked if anything else was going and I looked at the cart and said no i am at my limit. And paid for my items did not even think to look if stuff she grabbed was scanned. So as I was paying she took off like a bag out of hell with my cart to get it in the truck. Then I stood there and rang up 4 items I grabbed for my baby sitter paid for those and pretty much got grabbed up and told to go with them. While I was asking what happened what is going on they kept telling me to shut up, quit acting stupid, I knew what I did and quit trying to make a scene. Now mind u my friend is gone she says she will be right back she needs to call and tell them we will b late and she hitched a ride out of there. So I have no clue what's going on, what I did, and now I am alone. So yes my anxiety was already up Cuz of the crowd now it is even higher cuz I am in a 8x8 room no Windows only tons and tons of computer equipment and 2 chairs. She grabs my purse dumps it out on the ground, grabbed my wallet for my I'd all while I am freaking out cuz I was being yelled at and made feel guilty, while I am in the middle of this attack the lady then proceeds to tell me oh I am on an antidepressant and Xanax too your faking now mind u I take 5 different medicines for my depression, anxiety and different mood disorders so it was more then just a little panic attack. Oh ya have I mentioned I have never ever been in trouble. Only thing on my record is a childsupport case, 1 seatbelt ticket ( got because I put car in gear then put seatbelt on) that is it. The other girl has 4 criminal misdemeanors and is going for a felony case at the moment. And before she tried to leave with my cart she took her own cart out with stolen items I it. I could of paid for everything that was stolen I had the money but I wanted to hold some money back to take my kids to the zoo that weekend. And don't u think I would of tried getting everything I could but no I left a cart full of stuff that I was gonna have my old man come back for. So yes it was my cart but I had no clue almost everything she bagged went across the scannerbut she told me later her hand was over bar code

I still just don't see how you could have plausibly not noticed that your friend grabbed the things you weren't going to buy and bagged them up. Where did you think those items went? I've been through self check out and what you are saying you did doesn't really make sense. For one thing, it's kind of ridiculous to start putting aside things you don't want in a check out that has no cashier to hand them off to. Were you just going to leave them there on the counter? Why didn't you call over the clerk who stands by at self check out to help customers to hand her the things you were not going to buy? Your story simply does not ring true as you are telling it. It sounds more like you and your friend were trying to run a scam and walk out with more than what you were ringing up. It's obvious that's what the walmart employees think you were doing, too.

 

[Karivan]

She asked me if I was gonna get a couple of things and threw them in the cart but I did not pay attention to what all went back into the cart. Plus she had me all flustered and worked up because she was telling me just to hurry scan it and throw it down. Don't stop to try bagging she had it. I don't know it kind of is my fault I should of payed closer attention but she had me so worked up and just ready to go because I was feeling a panic attack coming on and I was getting hot and sweaty and I just wanted to go. Never thought a person I was nice too could do me like that. Like I said I never been I trouble never rode in a cop car unless I was working with one and that was in the front seat. Now I am fighting to keep my way of life and not waste all the work I have done.

 

[xylene]

While I was having a panic attack not knowing what was going on.

I don't buy that. Neither do they. It's call 'consciousness of guilt' and it is a HUGE red flag for anyone who know anything about loss prevention.

 

[cbg]

It is not "kind of" your fault. It IS your fault. You should have been paying attention and you should have not have been sorting at a self-service register. If you weren't sure you had money for everything you should either have gone to a manned register or not put anything in the cart that you didn't know you could pay for - you could always go back in and get other things later if you found you still had money left for things that weren't urgent. And you damned sure should have told your "friend" to keep her hands out of your stuff if it was confusing you that much.

Sorry, not buying what you're selling. This reeks of trying out a story to see where the holes are. Well, sugar, there are holes a-plenty.

 

[Eekamouse]

My thoughts exactly. OP thought she could pull a fast one with her friend's help. It didn't work out and OP got caught. Now she's regretting her stupidity and wishing she could take it back. But if she can't take it back, she wants to blame it all on her accomplice. Whining about how it's not fair that her friend got away while she is being made to pay for her crime. OP should have thought about all she was risking by deciding to shoplift.

 

[HighwayMan]

How do I prove it should of been her not me that received the ticket.

It seems as though you did not receive the appearance ticket in error. It's all on you.

The bottom line here is that since you have apparently been charged criminally, you need an attorney.

Chances are that since you are prone to "panic attacks" you'll have another one in court. You certainly are way beyond the point where you are capable of defending yourself. Get yourself an attorney. ASAP.

 

[Just Blue]

She asked me if I was gonna get a couple of things and threw them in the cart but I did not pay attention to what all went back into the cart. Plus she had me all flustered and worked up because she was telling me just to hurry scan it and throw it down. Don't stop to try bagging she had it. I don't know it kind of is my fault I should of payed closer attention but she had me so worked up and just ready to go because I was feeling a panic attack coming on and I was getting hot and sweaty and I just wanted to go. Never thought a person I was nice too could do me like that. Like I said I never been I trouble never rode in a cop car unless I was working with one and that was in the front seat. Now I am fighting to keep my way of life and not waste all the work I have done.

If someone flusters you by telling you to hurry up...You will not make it in nursing. I would go so far to say you would be a danger to patients.

 

[HighwayMan]

And on top of all my nursing stuff have also started taking auto mechanics, welding, and semi truck driving, because I now own my own scrap and farm cleaning company.

Wow, what a renaissance woman you are.

I don't need to steal, I have money...

What is the purpose of buying phone cards??

my boyfriend had the debit card cuz he had to do a tow job and haul it to the junk yard so he needed to fuel up the tow truck.

"the" debit card? You mean your debit card? Why can't he get his own?

 

[HRZ]

Your " confusion" sounds all to contrived after the fact ....and you are destined to talk yourself into deeper trouble ...start making phone calls and find a local lawyer with a successful track record of defending retail theft issues ...and pay him or her.

Frankly I don't belIeve you..but I don't count...the judge does.....and IF there is a reasonable element of confusion ...your attorney " might" get you the benefit of a doubt....but you are NOT a good advocate of your position.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the Illinois retail theft law: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K16-25

If the amount you are said to have stolen had a value less than $300 and this is your first offense, it can be charged as a Class A misdemeanor punishable by probation and supervision or up to one year in jail.

If the amount you are said to have stolen had a value greater than $300 and this is your first offense, it can be charged as a Class 3 felony punishable by probation or 2 to 5 years in prison.

First offenders charged with misdemeanor retail theft could be eligible for a diversion program and if charged with felony retail theft could be eligible for a "second chance probation."

You are in need of a criminal defense attorney. You should say nothing about the the alleged theft to anyone but your attorney. You have probably said more than is advisable already.

You should watch this video "Don't Talk to the Police:"

Good luck.