Caught shoplifting from Safeway

[idkman]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Washington State

Hi, I was recently caught shoplifting at a Safeway store. The items totaled to $26. When security grabbed me, I had walked out of the door with the bag, they did not disclose who they were, they just said to come back inside and grabbed me and my boyfriend's arm. When they asked me how old I was, I freaked out and said 17 when I'm actually 18. I did give them my real ID afterwards, which says that I'm 18, and they never noticed it or put the numbers into their head and they did all my paperwork as if I was a minor and called my mom to pick me up. After they finished all the paperwork, they called the cops and gave the finished paperwork to the officer, but he didn't notice my real age either, even after physically looking at my ID. My boyfriend, who is 20, got a letter with the civil claim from Safeway and had to pay the fine ($175) but I haven't gotten anything in the mail from the store? I don't know if they just aren't sending me a civil claim because they think I'm underage, or if It got lost in the mail, or what. I'm really worried that It just got lost and I'm going to have to pay a ton more because I never paid it, and It will look bad with the courts. I know that the courts are going to realize that I'm not a juvenile and I assume they will send it to regular court, but another question I had was, will I get in trouble for lying? I was under extreme stress, and I gave them my ID willingly, assuming they would realize I was an adult. Could the case possibly be dismissed because the officer failed to notice my actual age, or will It be my fault for not telling him? I never actually TOLD him I was 17, I only told the security officers that.
This is my first offence since turning 18, the only offence I have on my juvenile record was being a registered runaway and a diversion.
I'm also a 1st year college student.

Another question: I am just now getting hired to a job, and I know that the charge won't be on my record until after court, but if I'm found guilty and It's on my record, will my employer be notified?

thank you for reading. I'm super freaked out about this whole thing.

Edit: My boyfriend was only added as an accomplice because I had dropped my soda while in the store, and he had picked it up and handed it to me, so because he physically touched the soda, he became part of the shoplifting. That also confused me. I take full blame for everything that happened and feel terrible that I got him in trouble. I'm so very lucky that he's understanding and kind and didn't get mad at me over the whole thing.

[PandorasBox]

Since the police were called....you will be in court. You will have criminal charges, court costs, fines, a Criminal Record. You will have the Civil Demand also.

Your boyfriend....I hope you can help him with his charges and costs also.

You both need criminal defense attorneys. Ask for First Time Offender programs to try to keep your criminal records clean.

- - - Updated - - -

And no...the case will not be dismissed because of "cops failing to notice your age". It might be worse because the cops likely DID notice you LIED about your age.

[idkman]

Since the police were called....you will be in court. You will have criminal charges, court costs, fines, a Criminal Record. You will have the Civil Demand also.

Will my employer be notified after I'm hired that I just got something on my record?

and my civil demand never came in the mail, what happens with that? Will I be blamed for that and have to pay more for not meeting the deadline?

[flyingron]

It can take months for the demand to arrive but Safeway's recovery guys appear to be pretty fast. It's possible that they aren't going to send multiple demands on the same incident. Of course, it's possible if your boyfriend doesn't pay up, that they'll send you one. There's not a statutory fine for not responding to the demand letter like you were FTA on a traffic ticket.

Why do you think that the LP officers have any responsibility to ask or determine your age? Lying to loss prevention is not criminal. Lying to the police might be but that's likely to be ignored in the big scheme of things.

Employers are not routinely notified of things. It is however public knowledge (both the arrest any any subsequent conviction).