Shoplifting Charge After Removing an Item from Packaging, but I Left it in the Store

My question involves criminal law for the state of: arkansas

i opened a package with an rca jack in it and ultimately put the jack down, i went on to purchase a snack cake and started to exit the store when i was approached by several Wal-Mart security officers , questioned and detained ,, then they notified local police which gave me a ticket for shoplifting ... now like i said i had already put the item down in the store and was leaving,"no matter what the reason" i was leaving the store with nothing but what i had purchased. The only thing i said was to Wal-Mart security before police arrived was when they said something about me taking the rca jack out of the package i told them i put it down . What i need to know is if they have a case and can they even do what they did. anyone's advise on this matter will be greatly appreciated .....

Removing goods from packaging is one step that shoplifters often use as part of their scheme to steal merchandise. It also tends to destroy the resale value of the product since consumers generally want to buy goods that are still in factory packaging; they pay much less for unpackaged goods. Thus, the store suffers a loss from it. You don’t have to take the goods out of the store to be charged with and convicted of shoplifting. The Arkansas theft statute, Ark. Code § 5-36-103, states:

“(a) A person commits theft of property if he or she knowingly:

(1) Takes or exercises unauthorized control over or makes an unauthorized transfer of an interest in the property of another person with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property; or

(2) Obtains the property of another person by deception or by threat with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property.”

The argument would likely be that by removing it from the packaging you were assuming unauthorized control over the item and that because the removal from the packaging makes it impossible to sell as a new factory sealed item you effectively deprived the store of the property (or rather, the proceeds they’d have otherwise received from selling it). I don’t know exactly what the Arkansas courts have held on this sort of situation with respect to prosecutions for theft. You will certainly want to consult a criminal defense lawyer to review the exact facts of what happened, what evidence the state has, and how likely it is that you may end up convicted of this offense. A standard rule of thumb here is never remove something from the packaging in the store if you aren't going to buy it (or aren’t sure you want to buy it) to avoid legal troubles. If you need to see the item out of the packaging to make a decision to buy, ask a store employee for help to see the store will do that for you.


Note that I did not select the title to my reply; an administrator must have changed the title for the thread.

Part of the statute refers to"(1) Takes or exercises unauthorized control over, or makes an unauthorized transfer of an interest in, the property of another person, with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property." IMO, you clearly exercised unauthorized control over the property, with intent to deprive the owner of the property. No one wants buy an open bag product in many cases.

From what you are posting, you make it appear that you removed the item from the packaging, took the item, and put the packaging back on the shelf, then later ditched the item you were stealing somewhere in the store. Apparently you were not able to explain where you ditched the item such that the store was able to locate and recover the item. You and your lawyer can obtain the surveillance video from Wal-Mart and see if it shows you ditching the item.

If you ditched the item in a manner that would prevent its recovery, such as putting it into a trash can, that's not going to provide you with a defense.

Isn't an RCA jack like $10?