Getting Caught Days, Weeks, or Months After Shoplifting

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York
My friend began shoplifting from a big chain store a few months ago. It started small like with wrist bands, socks etc. He wanted me to shoplift with him, and stupidly i began to. I took a pair of gloves and some wristbands. I haven't thought much about it until recently, when we did it again. This time we took almost 150 dollars worth of items. I feel horrible over doing this and cant get it off my mind. But my question is , can we still get caught if we did it a few days ago. I'm pretty sure no camera saw me since we were in a blind spot and could not see any cameras , but you never know. I'm positive no one saw us either . My friend got really lucky too , cause on the way out the buzzer for the tag went off , but the employee waved us off since i purchased something. So, what are the odds of us getting caught? I have learned my lesson and i will never steal again, the guilt itself is too much to bear.

Sure you can. Not only can you be charged with each as a separate activity, you did so as an organized theft ring.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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Sure you can. Not only can you be charged with each as a separate activity, you did so as an organized theft ring.

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Thanks for the reply, but what are the odds , especially if no one saw me, and i doubt cameras saw me unless they were hidden.

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Quoting Gold28

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Thanks for the reply, but what are the odds , especially if no one saw me, and i doubt cameras saw me unless they were hidden.

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28.7%

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Quoting Gold28

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Thanks for the reply, but what are the odds , especially if no one saw me, and i doubt cameras saw me unless they were hidden.

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You would be amazed at how sneaky LP can be both in person and with cameras.

My suggestion would be quit stealing and quit hanging out with someone who steals. One or both will eventually catch up to you.

The guilt is simply the price you pay for your crimes.

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Quoting free9man

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You would be amazed at how sneaky LP can be both in person and with cameras.

My suggestion would be quit stealing and quit hanging out with someone who steals. One or both will eventually catch up to you.

The guilt is simply the price you pay for your crimes.

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I agree...I will also add that it would be best to stay out of that store for quite while.

Thank you , and i learnedly lesson stealing the stuff didnt do anything for me except making me feel horrible and paranoid. I definetely will never steal again, its not worth it.

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Do you think i should speak to the manager of the store and return the stuff to the store and pay it , back , or should i mail it to them anonymously or should i just do nothing.

That depends. Do you WANT to be arrested and charged and have a criminal record? If so, go right ahead and talk to the store manager. If not, learn to live with the guilt and leave well enough alone.

You SHOULD feel guilty.

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Quoting harrylime

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28.7%

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:) (I think you may be off by 6% or so...)

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Quoting cbg

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That depends. Do you WANT to be arrested and charged and have a criminal record? If so, go right ahead and talk to the store manager. If not, learn to live with the guilt and leave well enough alone.

You SHOULD feel guilty.

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I disagree.

They aren't going to prosecute the OP based on OP bringing things back.

Since the OP knows what he/she did was wrong and wants to make amends, I strongly suggest doing just that. Take the stuff back, say "I've had an issue with shoplifting that I'm working through, and I want to give this stuff back. I won't be back in here stealing again."

Then stay out of the store.

I have had people do this - particularly parents bringing their juvenile kids in to do it. Now in some cases, I did process them and open an internal case on them, but never prosecuted them. The opening of the internal case had more to do with me getting credit for a "stat" and recovery than anything else.

When you walk into a store and confess to shoplifting, nobody here is able to promise that the store won't proceed with charges. You can take the path of greatest caution, recognizing that it's possible, or you can take the path of least caution, relying upon personal experience with specific stores that forgive shoplifters who fess up and return the merchandise, but whatever actually happens is up to the store.

So would my best bet to go to the manager or do nothing and stay out of the store for a very long time ?

"Best bet" as in how to avoid responsibility? Or "best bet" as in doing the right thing?

Mr. Knowitall is correct; nobody knows for sure, with 100% certainty what will happen.

But you know - morally - that you should return the merchandise. And although I cannot promise that you won't be arrested should you return the merchandise, I would be surprised if you were.

Do the right thing. Good karma, and all that crap.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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"Best bet" as in how to avoid responsibility? Or "best bet" as in doing the right thing?

Mr. Knowitall is correct; nobody knows for sure, with 100% certainty what will happen.

But you know - morally - that you should return the merchandise. And although I cannot promise that you won't be arrested should you return the merchandise, I would be surprised if you were.

Do the right thing. Good karma, and all that crap.

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I agree . Morally speaking, i feel horrible. I think im going to donate the clothes or donate the amount i would have spent to charity . I will never shoplift again, especially since i do not want to destroy my future and i plan on going to a good college. Thanks for the reply.

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Quoting Gold28

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I agree . Morally speaking, i feel horrible. I think im going to donate the clothes or donate the amount i would have spent to charity . I will never shoplift again, especially since i do not want to destroy my future and i plan on going to a good college. Thanks for the reply.

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Do not donate the clothes or money to charity. That doesn't make amends to the store, who still loses their merchandise.

If you are really dead set on making sure that you can not possibly suffer the consequences that you deserve, at a MINIMUM, take the stolen clothes back to the store and leave them in a fitting room or just take them up to customer service, saying "I tried these on and don't want them, but didn't want to just leave them laying on the floor somewhere."

You are smart. Figure out a way to get the merchandise back to the entity that owns it so that it doesn't count towards their loss.

Of course, the honorable thing to do would be to go in, fess up, return the items, and accept whatever might happen.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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Do not donate the clothes or money to charity. That doesn't make amends to the store, who still loses their merchandise.

If you are really dead set on making sure that you can not possibly suffer the consequences that you deserve, at a MINIMUM, take the stolen clothes back to the store and leave them in a fitting room or just take them up to customer service, saying "I tried these on and don't want them, but didn't want to just leave them laying on the floor somewhere."

You are smart. Figure out a way to get the merchandise back to the entity that owns it so that it doesn't count towards their loss.

Of course, the honorable thing to do would be to go in, fess up, return the items, and accept whatever might happen.

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If i was to do this , can the store resell the items if i didnt wear them, but i did take the tags off

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Is it worth going back into the store , if the items do get returned to the store can it benefit me greatly , not morally speaking

You can always send the store a money order, made out to the store, with a note that it's for merchandise you accidentally took without paying. You can decide for yourself whether or not you would sign the note.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You can always send the store a money order, made out to the store, with a note that it's for merchandise you accidentally took without paying. You can decide for yourself whether or not you would sign the note.

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Thanks for responding. I know i have asked a lot of questions. Obviously I'm still terrified of getting caught and screwing up my future , but i should have thought about that in the first place. That being said , do you think the best thing to do to decrease my chances of getting in trouble is to secretly sneak the items back into the store and leave them there, or write a note anonimisouly and say i feel horrible for stealing and pay them back every penny, or say i accidentally took these items. I'm not sure how i can say i accidentally took them considering i took 5 items , but please anyone tell me what you think the best thing to do would be . Thank-you so much.

What is your ultimate goal here? Please indicate the order of importance of these three items:

1.) To keep from having a criminal record
2.) To return the items even though they would now be useless to the store
3.) To stop feeling guilty

The "best" thing you can do is not the same depending on which of these is most important.

To keep from a having a criminal record most importantly

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Quoting cbg

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What is your ultimate goal here? Please indicate the order of importance of these three items:

1.) To keep from having a criminal record
2.) To return the items even though they would now be useless to the store
3.) To stop feeling guilty

The "best" thing you can do is not the same depending on which of these is most important.

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Most importantly to keep from having a criminal , i made a really stupid decision and i dont want it to affect my future. To keep from having a criminal record the best thing to do would be what?

If your most important goal is to keep from having a criminal record, then follow what I said before and DO NOTHING. Do not return the items, do not write an anonymous letter, do not contact the manager, do not do ANYTHING AT ALL. The more you do, the more likely it is that someone will decide to charge you. DON'T ROCK THE DAMNED BOAT.

You're just going to have to live with feeling guilty in that case. You can't get rid of the guilt and protect yourself from criminal charges too.

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Quoting cbg

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If your most important goal is to keep from having a criminal record, then follow what I said before and DO NOTHING. Do not return the items, do not write an anonymous letter, do not contact the manager, do not do ANYTHING AT ALL. The more you do, the more likely it is that someone will decide to charge you. DON'T ROCK THE DAMNED BOAT.

You're just going to have to live with feeling guilty in that case. You can't get rid of the guilt and protect yourself from criminal charges too.

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Thanks man i appreciate it.

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Quoting cbg

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If your most important goal is to keep from having a criminal record, then follow what I said before and DO NOTHING. Do not return the items, do not write an anonymous letter, do not contact the manager, do not do ANYTHING AT ALL. The more you do, the more likely it is that someone will decide to charge you. DON'T ROCK THE DAMNED BOAT.

You're just going to have to live with feeling guilty in that case. You can't get rid of the guilt and protect yourself from criminal charges too.

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Should i stay out of the store for at least 1 year or more ?

Can't hurt.