Can LP Keep a Shoplifter's Personal Property

My question involves civil rights in the State of: california
i was almost caught walking out of jcpennys with less then 50 dollars of merchandise... the lp grabbed only my purse handle and ripped it from my arm got their belongings back and my purse i asked for it back because it has my great grandmothers ruby in it that i was taking to get appraised the next day..... i am homeless and am 29 year old female, (thats irrelevant) but the ruby is my daughters future and the basis for me to start a new life with no theiving involved....... theres no proof that it was me anyone could have had my purse the only piece of identity was a costco card loose in my purse not in a wallet... they told me **** you come inside if you want your purse or else we are calling the cops, i sat out side for a long time and no cops came but i need my belongings back , they got theirs back what can i do.

They cannot keep your property. You will have to contact the store, and likely go there, in order to get it back assuming they still have it. Are you sure it was LP that stopped you? If it was, that was a crap unprofessional stop. You don't just let the person walk away if you have them, which they did.

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Quoting free9man

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They cannot keep your property. You will have to contact the store, and likely go there, in order to get it back assuming they still have it. Are you sure it was LP that stopped you? If it was, that was a crap unprofessional stop. You don't just let the person walk away if you have them, which they did.

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Sorry, this isn't correct.

There's a few lines to be read between here because the shoplifter's account is a bit hard to read due to bad grammar.

It appears that the OP didn't cooperate and refused to come back inside, although they were able to get the purse extracted from her. They then didn't stand around outside to sort through the purse and their merchandise on the sidewalk, but took it inside. Now she's whining about her ruby ring.

Your purse is either being held as evidence and you can go back for it and be charged OR it has already met the dumpster.

Also, no one will be impressed that it was "less than $50." And I'm sure that if you could only get that ring back you'd turn your life around, quit breaking the law, and work for a living. If only you had that ring!

Oh well. I guess it's back to being a pretty criminal.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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Sorry, this isn't correct.

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No, it is. The store personnel are not allowed to just take and keep the personal property of shoplifters, which is what OP was asking. The bag, yes because it is evidence. It's contents, beyond the stolen merchandise, absolutely not.

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Quoting free9man

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No, it is. The store personnel are not allowed to just take and keep the personal property of shoplifters. The bag, yes because it is evidence. It's contents, beyond the stolen merchandise, absolutely not.

I've done the job. If OP stuck around, there was no reason for them not to bring her back in the store for processing or call the cops to come get her and then OP would have gotten their stuff back albeit after bailing out of jail. That was an unprofessional stop. You do not cuss out shoplifters. That is not the way professionals do it.

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It would appear that they didn't forcibly take her into custody because it was a small dollar amount. They settled for the recovery. Most would call that a good business decision.

Since she had almost nothing in the purse but the stolen merchandise and a costco card and this stupid ring (typical for shoplifters. They never have ID, credit cards, etc in their thieving bags for just this reason,) the LP guys probably didn't even know about the ring until later.

Furthermore, they didn't refuse to give her her things back; she would have been welcome to have her ring and maybe even purse back had she walked back in. She resisted apprehension and they took the bag in the process because it contained their property.

The fact that you claim to have done the job but fail to grasp all of this is surprising.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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It would appear that they didn't forcibly take her into custody because it was a small dollar amount. They settled for the recovery. Most would call that a good business decision.

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Without being there, I would be inclined to agree. I don't know what level of resistance OP put up but if it wasn't anything more than token, it would not take much force to bring her in. Further, as I stated, they could have called the cops to deal with OP.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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Since she had almost nothing in the purse but the stolen merchandise and a costco card and this stupid ring (typical for shoplifters. They never have ID, credit cards, etc in their thieving bags for just this reason,) the LP guys probably didn't even know about the ring until later.

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Never said anything to the contrary. I am well aware of the contents of the typical shoplifter's purse, although my perps tended to have one or more controlled substances in theirs as well.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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Furthermore, they didn't refuse to give her her things back;

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I never said they did. I simply told OP that they would have to go to the store to get it back. That may not work out too well for them as that recovery could turn into a stat, depending on the company.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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The fact that you claim to have done the job but fail to grasp all of this is surprising.

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I'm not just claiming. I did it for 10 years and did it well. I am well aware of how things go. I was simply answering OP's question and expressing my opinion that the stop was unprofessional.

I am waiting for the claim store LP stole the ruby and she wants to sue them.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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I am waiting for the claim store LP stole the ruby and she wants to sue them.

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Wouldn't be the first time and definitely won't be the last. That's why we always checked bags where the perp or a camera could see us. Still didn't stop people from claiming their wad of cash disappeared after they got caught.

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Quoting free9man

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Without being there, I would be inclined to agree. I don't know what level of resistance OP put up but if it wasn't anything more than token, it would not take much force to bring her in. Further, as I stated, they could have called the cops to deal with OP.



Never said anything to the contrary. I am well aware of the contents of the typical shoplifter's purse, although my perps tended to have one or more controlled substances in theirs as well.



I never said they did. I simply told OP that they would have to go to the store to get it back. That may not work out too well for them as that recovery could turn into a stat, depending on the company.



I'm not just claiming. I did it for 10 years and did it well. I am well aware of how things go. I was simply answering OP's question and expressing my opinion that the stop was unprofessional.

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Ok, I see that we are more in agreement with each other than I thought. I'm not sure that it was unprofessional though. It seems she resisted, they got the bag, and walked in. It's probably what I'd have done too if I was choosing to not take her into custody for whatever reason - although I'd have probably taken her. And frankly, even if I could see personal property in the bag along with stolen merchandise, OP was in effect abandoning it by not coming back in. So I would still take the whole bag, but I'd turn it and its contents over to the police.

I also have a feeling that there's a few pertinent details being left out by the OP.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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I also have a feeling that there's a few pertinent details being left out by the OP.

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Oh, I'm quite sure that's probably true.

My main point on the professionalism aspect was the cussing at the perp. You aren't supposed to do that, although I know it happens sometimes.

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Quoting free9man

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Oh, I'm quite sure that's probably true.

My main point on the professionalism aspect was the cussing at the perp. You aren't supposed to do that, although I know it happens sometimes.

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Yes. Ideally I begin each contact treating the subject with courtesy and respect. Obviously, though, we deal with rapidly evolving situations - and sometimes choice of words can even be an appropriate verbal use of force to control a situation as much as handcuffing or take downs are.

If I said that I've never uttered a 4 letter word at a suspect I'd be lying.

hey guys, offender here, um i did have very few item in my purse, yes i am planning on suing them of the ruby is not there. Duh, yes you should have seen that coming. The stop was very poorly planned and unprofessional, it seemed as if they weren't ready for me to walk out the door or were notified late about where they were to apprehend me i don't know it was just a strange event all together. I feel They were wrong by touching me past the sidewalk, especially to snatch my property from me after grabbing their property out .....it was two packages of Stafford one undershirt and one white tee. huge items and a few small things at the bottom of my bag were clearly mine (one of which was the ruby) being that i had gone straight into the men's section back to the shirts then back out the door. "If only i had my ring id turn my life around" is a huge statement and a cop out. I was def planning on using that ring for my daughters future. I want to open a family business so that she will never have to struggle and i have a way to provide her with an earned income so that she is never in a bind when it come to money. I know that shes will have an opportunity to earn what she needs and wants until she finds a career. Point is they violated my civil rights by taking my belongings and if its not all there im suing because we stood there and argued long enough for them to grab the shirts and give me my pruse back not to mention i asked for it back , they were dangling it over my head for me to step back on to the property, after that my mom went in asked for it and they denied her and told her to send me in and id have a better chance but either way their calling the cops i stood out there for like 45 min and no cops came. so i should call jcp lp or what steps can i mmake to recover my purse and keys is what im askimg

Learn to write coherant sentences and use paragraphs.

There's a saying "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

They didn't violate your civil rights and your opinion of how LP should be done when you've never done the job carries no weight.

You should have went back in, but you didn't want to because you committed a crime and wanted to duck taking responsibility for it. If your ruby goes missing because it went in the trash, consider it the "stupid prize" you won for playing stupid games.

Go ahead and try to sue. You won't be successful.

Go ahead and call them and ask to come in. And be prepared to be arrested when you go in. I hope your ruby and keys are worth it.

Oh, and QUIT BREAKING THE LAW. THEN YOU WON'T BE IN THESE PREDICAMENTS in the first place.

I hear the same thing happened to Andrew Carnegie when he was young. He sued for the ruby and won enough money to build the Carnegie Steel empire.

deputy dog, if you dont have something nice to say, dont say it at all

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disagreeable, this might be a stupid question but is that true

To the OP....if you had such a valuable ring in the purse - why did you not call the police? It would appear to me the ring, as you have described it, would be of such value that it would out way a shoplifting charge. Like Deputy Dog, I feel there is more to this story.

Despite how "wrong" the LP may or may not have been, you were wrong first. If you hadn't been BREAKING THE LAW by shoplifting in the first place, no one would have had to stop you and you'd still have your ring.

Who takes a valuable ring shoplifting with them? You don't think that was stupid?

Like the others, I'm not seeing where anyone refused to return the ring to you. You want to risk a shoplifting charge by asking for it back? Go right ahead. I'd love to see more shoplifters charged and prosecuted.

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Quoting dylannsfuture

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deputy dog, if you dont have something nice to say, dont say it at all

You don't get to choose how we respond.

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disagreeable, this might be a stupid question but is that true

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Yep! TOTALLY true! It says it right there, doesn't it? If you read it on the internet, it's true.




This place is populated in large part by people who work in law enforcement, loss prevention, and other jobs where they deal with people BS'ing every day. You're trying to sell a story here and it's not going well for you.

call the store and ask to speak to the guy, see if he has the ring and say you want to pick it up if its important to you. if they call the police do not make any statements to them.