Will Stores Figure Out That You Shoplifted After the Fact

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California
About 4 months ago an ugly habit of shoplifting developed. It was "easy" and it seemed that no one suspected. No one (store or police) ever stopped or questioned the shoplifting. After a month it NEEDED to stop. So Took help classes online and currently in counseling at a mega church in the city.
In your "expert law" opinion, how likely do you think those past crimes 4 months ago will be discovered? Or if they already have been would action already have been taken?
Some people send anonymous monies to retail stores, as sort of restitution. Would you recommend this?
So regretful, want to make restitution but very concerned For past . Opinion?

It's possible they may still prosecute you but chances are they either didn't observe you or don't know who you are. I'd stay out of the store(s) involved for a while.

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Quoting flyingron

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It's possible they may still prosecute you but chances are they either didn't observe you or don't know who you are. I'd stay out of the store(s) involved for a while.

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The "possibly" refers to the SOL? "Chances" refers to the length of time that has past with no word? Have and will not stepped one foot in there!! Thank you. Your opinion is appreciated and respected.

No the possibly means that either the wheels of justice are moving slowly (contrary to what you learned from watching cop shows, there's no requirement that people be arrested immediately at the scene of the crime) or that they don't know who you are. Of course, if they've seen you and you go back in the store they may recognize you as that punk who keeps ripping them off.

SOL is they have a year to commence prosecution.

Other than that we don't do fortune telling. You'll to sweat this one out.

The possibility that they may figure out that you shoplifted after the fact is somewhere between zero and one hundred percent.

I hope this clears the question up for you.

Have a nice day.

If you are a religious person, why are you not wanting to accept accountability, take responsibility, and accept whatever happens when you return the merchandise and apologize? Why the talk about doing it anonymously by sending money (which by the way, doesn't do them any favors since the item is still missing = inventory shortage?)

You COULD be prosecuted without going back if they have info on you. You COULD be prosecuted if you go back to return things and admit. There are a lot of possibilities here.

What would I recommend? I think you should swallow hard, go back in with whatever you've taken, ask to speak to LP, and give the stuff back and apologize. Could they prosecute you based upon your admission? Yes. Is it likely? My experience working in LP for 4 major, national chains in two different regions of the country tells me that the chances of being prosecuted in that case are quite small. Assuming they didn't previously see you do it, there would be fear that you could simply recant later and, with no other evidence, it would then be your word against theirs. But beyond that, stores value saving their merchandise over prosecution, and most certainly are not going to send the message that bringing things back is to be avoided for fear of arrest.

Again, COULD you be arrested in that scenario? Yes. Is it still the right thing to do? YES. Grow up, take responsibility, and be glad you didn't get caught, because the odds would be in favor of you being prosecuted if you got caught. Bringing back things of your own volition? Your odds - if I had to bet - are against being prosecuted.

Continue to do the right thing that you've already started.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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Again, COULD you be arrested in that scenario? Yes. Is it still the right thing to do? YES. Grow up, take responsibility, and be glad you didn't get caught, because the odds would be in favor of you being prosecuted if you got caught. Bringing back things of your own volition? Your odds - if I had to bet - are against being prosecuted.

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I don't see prosecution happening either. What could happen is LP going ahead and stat'ing OP and hitting them with a Civil Demand. Especially if their store's numbers are bad. Seen it happen.

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Quoting free9man

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I don't see prosecution happening either. What could happen is LP going ahead and stat'ing OP and hitting them with a Civil Demand. Especially if their store's numbers are bad. Seen it happen.

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If you'd ever worked with me, you'd have seen it happen for sure. :sneakiness:

I just said he/she wouldn't likely be PROSECUTED. A stat-grab? Any day of the week.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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If you'd ever worked with me, you'd have seen it happen for sure. :sneakiness:

I just said he/she wouldn't likely be PROSECUTED. A stat-grab? Every day of the week.

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I know. I was just pointing out that, even without prosecution, OP may not escape unscathed.

wish that could be done Deputy but soon after items were dropped off at a shelter. Didn't know what else to do at that time. What else? Working on mental state but cannot move forward while living in fear. With all your background history have you seen a time lapse like this as far as not hearing anything about the incidents? I do thank you

if you never steal again and never got to the stores or any of their other branches or the included plazaz, your odds of prosecution are quite low, shoplifting is a fairly simple crime, they either have sufficient evidence of theft or they don't, they either have your identity or they don't.

I can't speak for the law enforcement side of things, but on the formerly retail side of things all the shoplifters we tagged and bagged were either caught red handed with stolen goods or recognized after returning to the same or another store in the chain (LP shared photos of mystery shoplifters caught after the fact on super crappy surveillance camera, it's a miracle if you could even tell the race/sex of the offender back then, nowadays cheap high definition cameras are the norm so technolog has shifted far into LP's favor.)

This can be very dependent upon the company. Some retailers are very, very squeamish about "after the fact" prosecutions, and really want to only deal with people caught at the time of theft with the merchandise on them.

I currently work part-time for a (national, iconic) company that is actually very liberal and aggressive with "after the fact" arrests. If we can show a theft occurred, and we can ID someone later, no matter the investigative avenue used to ID them, we can file charges on them. There are also occasions in which we elect not to stop shoplifters at the time of the offense, but instead build a case and compile evidence of multiple thefts for a later arrest. Obviously, I can't discuss when/why this is done.

As to the OP, he/she references a shoplifting "habit" that developed over several months. Without specifics, it's hard for me to say whether this would be a case where we would likely be compiling evidence or whether it's something we wouldn't have bothered with if not apprehended at the time of theft.

I would say that the odds are probably against prosecution at this point, and that getting into counseling can only be a positive thing if later arrested. But none of us have a crystal ball that can predict the future.