Served With a Letter from a Store Where I Stole

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio

About a month ago, a friend and i attempted to steal from walmart. We were stopped and taken back. I was nervous because i have stolen from there before which is incredibly dumb and immature, i know. The cost of my items were $33 and my friend's $2. They said they would split the costs so police would be called, and that they were doing us a huge favor. They said we could get restitution fees in the mail, but they said they would say we were cooperative and we actually had a friendly conversation. We were let go without any pictures, banishment, or calls but they did take down our information.

I am expecting restitution fees. But today i received a peach slip from USPS that they had a letter that missed me. It was from a law office and it is certified mail. What does this mean? What is the likelihood of a summons? Ive seen some answers not to pay restitution, should i? The items werent damaged. I feel terrible and i can hardly sleep. I dont want this to ruin my life. Im 18.

It means someone sent you certified letter. If it was the police, they would come in person, the PO has a 70 pound limit on packages.

[QUOTE=cnelson34;783999]My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio
Does that mean its not from the police?

Given that you told us that it was not from the police, it seems quite obvious that it's not from the police. The police don't send mail from private law offices.

It is likely a civil demand letter of some sort. You won't know until you pick it up.

For certified mail, assuming it is related to the theft, it's more likely a summons than a civil demand. There's no need to serve a civil demand by certified mail.

As all we know is that it is from a law office, it may be unrelated to the theft.

Not picking it up simply means they will leave you two more notices. After that...it gets sent back to the sender. Now the sender may get a tad upset about that and cause you even further trouble.....

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And...if it is the stores lawyers...they may decide to press charges.