Accused of Stealing - Am I at Risk of Criminal Charges

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan



Recently, I was at a local Tavern. I was standing up at the bar having a good time, doing shots, talking to friends. Got in the car, went home. I woke up the next morning to a very threatening voicemail message from the Barkeep. (Him and I know each other very well) This is the voice mail:

"Hey anon, this is anon from [tavern], you know, in this day and age, everyone has f******* security cameras. I seen you- well, not you, but your buddies stealing s*** from my F****** freezer. I've contacted the law and you're being prosecuted. *Long Sigh* don't come back in my f****** bar again."

He said I wasn't on camera, so I shouldn't be prosecuted, right? Wrong, he's telling the cops that by me sitting at the bar, ordering shots, that I was keeping the barkeep busy so they couldn't see what was going on.

This happened Saturday night, it's now Monday afternoon. I've tried contacting the barkeep numerous times. I've actually contacted the bar directly just to be hung up on.

So should I lawyer up? Should I be worried about criminal charges?

He's the short version. My buddies were caught on tape stealing food from a freezer. I'm getting in trouble for being an accessory even though I didn't know anything about it.

Please Help

Until you actually hear from law enforcement that charges are being brought against you, you're not in any trouble at all. Just because he says so doesn't mean it's really going to happen.

Ok. I haven't heard from law enforcement as of yet. But I do know one of my buddies was picked up early this morning and another was brought in for questioning.

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And if there was in fact a warrent for my arrest, would I know about it? Would someone contact me?

Yes, someone would contact you. You'd be contacted by the cops when they show up to serve the warrant.

No one would call you in advance to tell you that a warrant had been issued. They don't want you fleeing the jurisdiction to avoid service.

One word of advice.

If the cops come to your door, shut up and insist on a lawyer no matter what kind of line they give you.

Even if it means getting arrested on the spot.

And quit trying to contact the barkeep, that only makes things worse and you might get charged with intimidating a witness.

Alright, thank you adjuster. I'm calling a Lawyer tomorrow morning and I'm gonna see if I can get this thing nipped in the bud. I've since quit calling. The way I see it, if they had any evidence I would've been talked to already.

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Thank you. This is my first time being in any sort of trouble. And it's still not even proven that I am I'm trouble. The owner of the establishment has not directly contacted me, but told my Aunt (her best friend) that she believes I had no knowledge of this.

I guess it's just the anticipation getting to me. I wanna know what's going on and I can't find out. There's still a chance that the barkeep, kept my name out of the report. Fingers crossed.