R
Rod Potter
Guest
I am a friend of an family that has been here in the US for 8 months from Iran as refugees. The father speakes some english but is very confused by the following action:
He was shopping in a local grocery outlet chain store and had placed abt 2.50 item in the cart for his wife to pay for. He went outside to start the car and warm it up. He returned just as his wife was leaving the register, well within the store. He noticed the item (over the counter medication) in the bottom of the cart. Pointing at the item, he asked her if she had payed for that item. She said that she didn't see it ( neither did the cashier). He turned to take the Item to the cashier and was confronted by a security agency contracted by the store and asked if he had paid for the item. They obviously overheard and observed the discussion. He explained that his wife had not paid for the item and he was returning to the cashier to pay for it. They stopped his progress and instead gave him a "Notice of civil Liability" that in effect said that if the $300.00 was not recieved by their office within 10 days, he would be liable for $400.00 bill. On the tenth day, an invoice for $405.59 was issued and sent to his residence. It states that this amount is now 1-30 days past due. It was recieved after the appearance in court that took 14 days to accomplish in which he declared he was not guilty. A pretrial hearing is now scheduled, but of course, the fine that may be garnered there is in addition to this one.
I'm sure that the taking of the merchandise "with the purpose to deprive a merchant of merchandise or to avoid payment for merchandise, or both" was not the intent or the action of the accused and was well understood by the security person charging the theft but potentially the reward for a theft submission. The accused demanded the police be called. This resulted in the ticket to court. My research on Utah code allows both civil and criminal prosecution. Where was the civil prosecution that resulted in the invoice. The DA will undoubtedly dismiss the criminal charge before or during the pretrial hearing on Dec 14th.
He was shopping in a local grocery outlet chain store and had placed abt 2.50 item in the cart for his wife to pay for. He went outside to start the car and warm it up. He returned just as his wife was leaving the register, well within the store. He noticed the item (over the counter medication) in the bottom of the cart. Pointing at the item, he asked her if she had payed for that item. She said that she didn't see it ( neither did the cashier). He turned to take the Item to the cashier and was confronted by a security agency contracted by the store and asked if he had paid for the item. They obviously overheard and observed the discussion. He explained that his wife had not paid for the item and he was returning to the cashier to pay for it. They stopped his progress and instead gave him a "Notice of civil Liability" that in effect said that if the $300.00 was not recieved by their office within 10 days, he would be liable for $400.00 bill. On the tenth day, an invoice for $405.59 was issued and sent to his residence. It states that this amount is now 1-30 days past due. It was recieved after the appearance in court that took 14 days to accomplish in which he declared he was not guilty. A pretrial hearing is now scheduled, but of course, the fine that may be garnered there is in addition to this one.
I'm sure that the taking of the merchandise "with the purpose to deprive a merchant of merchandise or to avoid payment for merchandise, or both" was not the intent or the action of the accused and was well understood by the security person charging the theft but potentially the reward for a theft submission. The accused demanded the police be called. This resulted in the ticket to court. My research on Utah code allows both civil and criminal prosecution. Where was the civil prosecution that resulted in the invoice. The DA will undoubtedly dismiss the criminal charge before or during the pretrial hearing on Dec 14th.