Caught Shoplifting but Ran and Now Being Charged with Unarmed Robbery

**carmen8** · 06-15-2012, 04:28 PM

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan

when I walked out of the store i had taken a t shirt and i think it was an undercover shopper came out and said he knew i took the shirt and asked me to come over. so when he grabbed my arm i ran away. then the police showed up at my house about 3 hours later and arrested me for unarmed robbery. the shirt was less than 40 dollars. I did not push the guy is just pulled away and ran. will I get the felony charge of unarmed robbery? what should I do?

**cbg** · 06-15-2012, 04:34 PM

Call an attorney and stop stealing. Not necessarily in that order.

**carmen8** · 06-15-2012, 06:29 PM

can someone just delete this now. and thanks

**cbg** · 06-15-2012, 06:32 PM

Hey, you asked what you should do and I told you. Sorry, but the crystal ball is out being recalibrated; I don't know what they're going to charge you with.

jk, you still got the Magic 8-ball?

**souperdave** · 06-16-2012, 08:37 AM

Once you fight/struggle/flee/resist during a shoplift apprehension, whether you 'fight' over the merchandise or not, you may very well end up with a felony robbery charge. It's a very thin line between being arrested for shoplifting and robbery. Once you try to get away, presumably with the merchandise, you escalate your taking from simply a store to taking from a person, which is robbery regardless of the level of resistance you use.