Minor Accused of Stealing from Walmart

Hey! My name is Kevin and I have a question!
I live in Ontario California and I was at Walmart.
I was searching handlebars for my bike in the bike zone of the store.
So I saw a fidget spinner outside the box(the value of the spinner is 6$ US Dollar) I thought that the spinner was from someone else that left it in the bike zone. So o grabbed it and I was playing it. But the problem was that when I was heading to the exit a guy stopped me and told me that I was trying to steal the fidget spinner. I did not have intentions of stealing the spinner. So they took me to a little room and took my information! I'm under age I have 16 years (10/12/00) so they called my guardian! (My aunt) and told her that I could get a fine! And I'm not sure if I'll get the fine or not! I'm just worried about the fine! And the police was not involved in this situations.

Hopefully I'll get help about this thing I have!

Thanks!

Walmart has video and they can report it to the police later. You'll know if you get a letter in the mail telling you to show up to juvenile court. You could also get a letter from Walmart demanding money as restitution in lieu of prosecution, likely for far more than the item was worth. Walmart doesn't get to decide if you get prosecuted. That is up to the DA if and when they get a report. Every Walmart handles this stuff a little differently so it would be a good idea if you and your guardian spoke to a local criminal defense attorney. And by the way--stay away from that Walmart in the meantime.

Quote:

---

Quoting LegalWriter

---

You could also get a letter from Walmart demanding money as restitution in lieu of prosecution, likely for far more than the item was worth. Walmart doesn't get to decide if you get prosecuted.

---

I don't believe Wal-Mart's civil demand letters say anything of the kind. That is tantamount to extortion. The Civil and Criminal sides are separate actions. Neither should be implied to rely on the outcome of the either. I know some LP employees sometimes make it sound that way, which is not appropriate. I highly doubt the law firm that drafts these letters for Wal-Mart would make that kind of mistake.

Quote:

---

Quoting free9man

---

I don't believe Wal-Mart's civil demand letters say anything of the kind.

---

The letters say it's to "settle the matter." I've had several clients that got them, paid, and then found themselves criminally charged. It's not blatant but, at least the four counties I work in, the letter from Walmart implies that if they pay no charges will be filed. The clients are always confused since they paid, in an amount far exceeding the value of what they tried to take, and they're still being charged.

"Settle the matter" does not imply that no charges will be filed nor is that the intended meaning. It is to settle the civil matter. That should have been explained by the LP folks.

Civil demand letters are usually explicit that the demand and settlement proposal relate only to civil liability, and will not affect any pending criminal prosecution.