My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York
About a week ago my younger sister was caught shoplifting from Sears. Guilty yes. She is 16 and her reasons for why I guess do not matter. She did not resist and fully cooperated.
The questions I do have concerning this issue are:;
1) She was apprehended at a bus stop about a 5 minute walk from the store. Are they allowed to do that?
2) The men who apprehended her did not make known to her who they were. They asked her for a receipt; which she did not have. And then told her she had to go back to the store to resolve the issue.
3) Quite obviously scared she followed them back to a room where they emptied all,allof her belongings and repeatedly told her they were going to call the police since they were unable to reach our parents. After they got in touch with me, they asked me numerous questions; some I did not have the information to (ss#, address, date of birth, school, grade, height, weight, eye color, phone number, etc.). Then they had her sign all different documents, none of which they explained what they were- they just kept saying if she did not sign them, they would call the police.
a) Are they allowed to have a minor sign off all these different documents without a guardian present?
b) What reprocutions can happen to my sister for this infraction?
c) Considering she was never charged with anything, can they later charge her with a shoplifting charge?
d) What is the statute of limitations for a crime like this (the merhcandise was well under $100)
e) They told her she would be fined, I was not aware of a store being allowed to fine a person ; I am worried she signed a 'contract' which will go through the courts (considering I believed a fine could only be charged through the courts). If she is legally allowed to be fined, what amount is she allowed to be fined?
f) They did not tell her she was on 'probation' from Sears or banned from the store. (Our older brother worked at Sears for a short time and he told me that all shoplifters are usually banned for 2-3 years) When I tried to call up LP at Sears, I got an answering machine, so I tried to call a few more times, again I got an answering machine so I finally just left a message. My message was never returned. Is she banned from the store or not??
I would greatly appreiate any help that anyone could provide for me. Thank you.

