Grabbed by a Store Employee After Shoplifting

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Maryland

My sister was at a local department store 2 days ago. She went in to pay her credit card bill and was leaving the store when she saw childrens coats on sale. She took pictures and texted me. We buy items for Toys for Tots and Coats for Needy Kids throughout the year when we see nice things on sale. I told her to buy 2 or 3 coats and I would pay her. She bought several coats, some childrens puzzles and 3 large stuffed animals that were also on sale.

She was leaving the store when she saw Christmas items on sale for 90% off. She walked over to that department and looked at the sale items. She said there were Christmas cards on sale for .75 cents. For some unknown reason, she put four boxes of Christmas cards in her bag and did not pay. I have no idea why she would have done this and she said she has no idea either.

Anyway, she was leaving the store without paying for the cards ($3.00) when a man came out of no where. She said the man was grabbing at her bags and yelling stop, stop lady. She said she was scared, it was after dark and she did not know who this man was. Actually, she thought she was being robbed. Her car was in one of the front parking spots and she said she was trying to get to her car. The man continued to grab her bags and grabbed her arm. One of the bags ripped and she said she dropped the other two bags and ran. She got in her car and locked the doors.

The man came over to the car and she said he beat on her window and was now yelling she needed to come inside the store. She said it looked like he had a walkie talkie radio on his belt and a lady was outside now too. She didn't know if the lady was a store employee or a customer. She backed her car out of the parking lot and got the hell out of there. Everything in her bags was paid in full and the receipts were in the bags, except for the cards. She is scared to death and I'm about sick on my stomach over this.

I don't know what to do and I don't know what she should do. Is this a normal practice of store personnel when they think someone is shoplifting? The store has the receipts and she used her store credit card to purchase all the items so the store has her name, address, etc. Will the police come to her house? And what should she do? She did not pay for the cards and that is wrong. What about the items that were paid for? And, honestly, I would have been scared to if a man outside grabbed by bags. This is unbelievable. She is over 40 years old and works for a living and could have and should have paid for the cards. I have no idea what she was thinking but what do we do now? I would appreciate any and all advice.

Your sister did steal. She stole the cards. According to you she put the cards in the bag and split. When confronted she ran to her car, locked the doors and split again.

Now she gets to wait and see if the police come after her or if the store comes after her.

She should go back to the store and face the manager or wait for the police to knock on her door and arrest her. It's up to her. She is 40 something years old and acts like that?

So somewhere along the line she realized it was a store employee. At that point she should have stopped trying to run and find out why they were trying to detain her. Now what might have been explained as a really dumb mistake now is seen as obvious theft.

Quote:

---

Is this a normal practice of store personnel when they think someone is shoplifting?

---

do you mean do they all try to stop a shoplifter from stealing store property? Uh, ya, that is their job after all.

I agree it is the store's job t o stop shoplifters. And I don't understand what her thought process was and I am very, very upset with her. My problem with all this is why in the world would a man come up on the side of her and not identify himself and grab her bags. Shoplifting or not, it would scare the hell out of anyone. I would think the store employees should be identifying themselves, such as "stop there maam. I am a security officer and I need you to stop and speak with me" I don't know, but I would think grabbing bags and beating on a car window is not what security personnel should have done. The whole situation is a mess.

I agree it is the store's job t o stop shoplifters. And I don't understand what her thought process was and I am very, very upset with her. My problem with all this is why in the world would a man come up on the side of her and not identify himself and grab her bags. Shoplifting or not, it would scare the hell out of anyone. I would think the store employees should be identifying themselves, such as "stop there maam. I am a security officer and I need you to stop and speak with me" I don't know, but I would think grabbing bags and beating on a car window is not what security personnel should have done. The whole situation is a mess.

I agree with you and I am baffled about her actions and embarrassed too. Its a terrible situation and I told her to go back to the store or call the store and make an appointment to meet with the manager immediately. I'm just kind of upset with a man grabbing her bags after dark and not identifying himself. That seems a little shady to me. I don't what the normal procedure for this type of stuff is so it may very well be the way security guards handle situations like this.

Your sister can complain to the management about how she was treated. Chances are it was not "security" but a store employee who observed the theft and tried to intercede. But, none of it will prevent her from being charged with a crime if they can identify the items she stole, and identify her from surveillance and vehicle registration info. It is possible that the police will not be involved ... it is also possible that they will be. There's no way to tell. Your sister will have many months to wonder and to fret as a result of her actions.

Since you weren't there you don't really know what happened, you only have your sister's version of the incident.

Quote:

---

Quoting trixie223

---

My problem with all this is why in the world would a man come up on the side of her and not identify himself and grab her bags. Shoplifting or not, it would scare the hell out of anyone. I would think the store employees should be identifying themselves, such as "stop there maam. I am a security officer and I need you to stop and speak with me" I don't know, but I would think grabbing bags and beating on a car window is not what security personnel should have done. The whole situation is a mess.

---

If you were not there, how do you know for a fact that the store personal didn't identify themselves and ask her to come back into the store? What if they did, and she got hysterical and ran to the car after doping the bags. Then the employee walked over to the car and knocked on the window to get her attention as she left the lot like a lunatic?

You are only hearing one side of the story, and I'm sure that you know there are two sides to every story.

And I agree about two sides to the story. It's been very upsetting. My sister is very even tempered and doesn't easily fluster but who knows. She needs to go into the store and get this situated somehow. My stomach is in knots.