My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York
My daughter and a friend were detained at Wal-Mart attempting to shoplift. I say attempting because they never left the point of sale. They were detained for a while before being allowed to call a parent. Once the parents got there we were informed that they took some stuff and now they were responsible to pay for the things. I had to give them my ID for information because they are minors and was asked to sign a paper that essentially said my daughter was not allowed in the store unsupervised or should would be fined. The police were never involved.
The security officer was rather annoyed that I wanted to read the paper before signing it. We offered to pay for the items and were told that the amount was going to split between the two girls and we would be getting a letter from the store as to how much.
The letter we got came from a Law Office stating the amount we had to pay within a time frame. The amount was double what they had originally told us.
A conversation with the Security Manager was not helpful. He could not answer any of our questions as to why the amount was doubled, he simply stated that "$75.00 was the minimum that could be charged and that is what we were charged, the minimum." I asked for a copy of the paper I signed as well as an itemized list of the merchandise. I was told he knew nothing of any paper being signed and that there was no list of the items. When asked again about the paper he told me "if there was such a thing you would have to get it from the law office. I don't know if the paper is here or where it is." I questioned how long the girls were banned from the store and was told "indefinietly." I asked this gentleman why we were told one thing and another has occurred, he had no answer he stated "he did not not know anything about what went on, what was signed, what the procedure for the store was. Call the number on the letter you got."
I feel we are being taken advantage of. I know the girls did wrong, so do they. I am not trying to get out of paying, but double the amount? This manager tells me it is restitution. The items were not damaged, never left the store with girls, and in fact according to him were placed back on the shelf for sale. I also feel that they are trying to recoup from us money from the shoplifters they have not caught. After all the girls never left the store or damaged the merchandise. The merchandise was put back on the shelf, so not only does the store make $150.00 off the girls they also make an additional $75.00 by selling the items.
My questions are: Is this all on the up and up? Is $75.00 the minimum in NYS for this offense? Shouldn't the manager have some idea of policy and procedure for the store? How can they charge restituition when no criminal charges were filed?

