Just Watched Someone Shoplift A Bunch.....

[rsmith6621]

Went to Safeway an hour ago to get some milk. While there I noticed a friend of mine who is in security lurkin around and endcap looking toward the meat department when WHAM BAM he and another security dude took off running. They were chasing a 20 something women with a large purse bag. They chased her out the doors and stopped her in the parking lot.

I was there to see her brought in to the security office and then about 10 minutes later my friend brought out 15 family packs of T-Bones each probably valued at $50.00 pre club card savings. He saw me and came over to see how my healing was going from my recent surgery,I said rough day at the office, he said ya they are having on average 6 shoplifting events a day the store in the past 6 weeks shoplifting has gone up 300% and they have added a few more personal.

I asked is it proportional to the economy he said actually yes and he is fearing what could happen over the next two months if things don't pick up.

[MADem]

1. That ain't an old lady stealing a can of cat food for Fluffy!

She said she'd bring the meat for the bar-b-Q!!!! She just didn't want to pay for it!

Throw the book at her. She wasn't hungry, she was a thief.

[tblue]

19. Throw the book at the Wall Streeters first.

Then BP and Massey mines, the frackers, the torturers, the criminal war and Interior dept. contractors, the fascists in state houses trying to take down unions. Then maybe we can go after the lady who stole some food.

[MADem]

62. Stole "some" food? She stole half a fucking COW.

Come on, this isn't a poor person swiping tuna fish and crackers, this is someone having a cookout for dozens of guests who didn't want to buy the meat....or someone looking to resell the steaks to others.

Throw the book at Wall Street, and prosecute this thief as well.

Walking and chewing gum at the same time--it can be done.

[JNelson6563]

84. And she chose a pretty good cut too!

I don't think this situation represents the poor, hungry huddled masses. I think this is someone who wanted some great steaks without paying for them, as you said.

Julie

[dionysus]

85. just because those people are crooks doesn't mean it's right to rob a grocery store.

:eyes:

[sabrina 1]

23. We still have laws like that in this country?

Laws against theft? Great! When will be seeing 'security' arrive on Wall St.??

[MADem]

63. What precisely are you saying? That because Wall Street gets away with dispicable

behavior, that makes it "OK" for this woman to steal half a cow?

Come on. Two wrongs do not make a right.

[Vanje]

39. Whether ya steal a can of catfood, or a purse full of Tenderloins.....

risk is the same.

Go for the steaks every time!

[MADem]

64. Risk, maybe. Punishment? Not so much.

This woman was well above "petty larceny" simply because of the massive amounts of expensive meat she had swiped. The consequences for her should be more severe.

[Liberal_in_LA]

111. Long time ago I worked for an agency that managed people sentenced to community service

One middle aged man had been arrested for trying to shoplift 3 steaks. He was poor, had 2 kids, and had wanted to provide a steak meal.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Well, she went right for the good stuff, huh?

[sabrina 1]

24. She should apply for a job on Wall St.

You are immune from prosecution for the stealing the 'good stuff' there. And she appears to have the qualifications.

[Erose999]

35. Hey, if you're gonna steal you might as well do it right...

[ohheckyeah]

38. Really.

If I'm going to take the chance of going to jail I would steal something that would make the stress worthwhile. Why the hell would I steal beans and rice? YUK

[CleanGreenFuture]

65. I don't know about doing it "right". It's not right. But, yeah, I was going to

say that if you're going to go to that extreme to eat, you may as well go for the good stuff.

But it is not right. It's not right that this is happening. I'd be curious to hear this woman's story. I think it's sad that it's coming to this.

Our society is in a slow-motion meltdown and people are beginning to get desperate as rsmith6621's store security friend described as a substantial increase in incidents. And that's just one store. Imagine multiplying that by 1000s of stores across the nation.

[knitter4democracy]

56. Best resale value.

Not unusual to have someone try to sell it later.

[FreeJoe]

70. How does that work?

Does some guy lean out of the back of a van in a parking lot and say "Hey buddy. Come here. I've got some top sirloin here for you." I'm just trying to picture the fencing of stolen meat.

[closeupready]

83. Yes, pretty much, that is how it's done.

Some guy tried to sell me stuff from the back of a van years ago. I guess it's a method that works, since I couldn't have been the first one offered as such.

[dionysus]

87. yeah, i'd had that happen 3 times, someone going down the street trying to sell meat. i remember in

the old days, guys selling speakers out of the back of a van, but meat? like i'm gonna trust that steak!

[closeupready]

88. Yes, agree.

Food poisoning isn't just for breakfast anymore. :sarcasm: ;)

[dionysus]

86. i've had guys going down my street trying to sell steaks, actually. shady as hell.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Great News! The economy is turning around!

"...they have added a few more personal."

[Botany]

4. she was stealing high end stuff to sell ......

.... this was not done to "feed her and her family."

[sammytko]

6. my nephew works at a store and sees this all the time - drug

addicts mostly. He even had to witness his female cousin get caught with a chicken in her purse - big time meth head.

[izquierdista]

7. The proceeds of which,

would feed her and her family longer than if she took the same weight of rice.

[Botany]

34. yes and no doubt she is working her way through night ....

.... school to get her nursing too. I hope I am wrong but the odds that she was going to take the
15 family packs of t-bone stakes and sell them in order to get cash to buy food for her family
are kind of slim.

Besides grocery stores operate on a very low margin and if this store is in a poor area stuff like this
will get it to close and the people will lose their jobs and then it will be even more expressive for the
people around that store to buy their food.

[Vanje]

41. Maybe she and her family are tired tired TIRED of eating shit!

The pnishments the same. TAKE THE STEAKS.

[dionysus]

89. cool. if someone robs your house, then they're totally justified, right?

:eyes:

[Ikonoklast]

47. You got it right, High-value items are stolen for drug money.

They are never for 'hungry children'.

'Hungry children' don't need bottles of liquor, expensive razor blades, whole beef tenderloins, lobster tails...

Being in retail food for many a year, I can remember only one time a woman was stealing baby formula and got caught.

The only trouble was, she was also stealing cartons of cigarettes along with the formula.

The same people, over and over, not much punishment for petty larceny.

[CleanGreenFuture]

67. Well, I didn't even think about this possibility when I posted upthread. I suppose

this could have been the sort of caper you describe.

[coalition_unwilling]

5. He and his security guard colleague probably have way more in

common with the person they detained than either has or ever will have with the shareholders and executives of Safeway.

As the 19th-century French anarchist Proudhon said, "(All) property is theft" ("La propriete, c'est le vol.")

[ZombieHorde]

15. +666.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. She should have swung by the seafood counter to make it surf 'n turf night.

I feel sympathetic toward those who are truly suffering, but 15 family packs of T-bones is a bit questionable.

[oldlib]

9. This is a sad time

for America. People are driven to shoplifting to feed their families. On a daily basis I see these people at the markets with barely enough to pay for their needs. This economy has reached the dreadful status of the Great Depression.

[Jim Warren]

10. Some road training might help

Make sure you can outrun the renta-cops.

[Shandris]

11. It's highly possible she didn't live nearby...

...and couldn't come back every 6 hours to get a fresh can of cat food for her family to eat that meal. Jesus Christ, do some of you hear yourselves? "What?! It wasn't cat food! No sympathy!". With meat amounts like that, she was going to sell it, freeze what she had left, and buy proper (read: not fucking cat food) food for her family.

Yes, it was a bit on the big side. Hell, it was very much on the big side. And why not? In this day of constant surveillance, you better make off with your haul the first time, cuz there won't be a second.

[MADem]

66. No she wasn't, she was going to sell those fifteen fifty dollar steak packs for meth money. NT

[ZombieHorde]

12. My...

My_spacebar_is_broken,_so_I_am_using_underscores.

She_should_have_carried_pepper_spray.

I_wonder_if_the_men_who_chased_her_have_illegal_files_on_their_computers.

[TheManInTheMac]

13. What good would pepper spray have done for her?

She would have been up on assault charges then. I suppose it would've given her more time not to worry about how to get food, though.

[ZombieHorde]

14. She

would_have_had_a_significantly_better_chance_of_getting_away.

[TheManInTheMac]

33. No she wouldn't have.

A shoplifter who makes it off of store property will not be pursued by the police. Once an assault has occurred in the commission of a crime, her chances of getting away significantly decrease. And the penalty significantly increases.

[ZombieHorde]

58. Most stores

call the police when they catch shoplifters. Additionally, most store security cameras are terrible.

Pepper spray will stop bears, so it will stop poorly trained security guards too.

[TheManInTheMac]

60. Glad you got your spacebar fixed.

[ZombieHorde]

97. I actually typed that out using a virtual keyboard, but I have a new keyboard now.

Don't worry, I purchased it. :P

[LanternWaste]

102. And thieves also...

"so it will stop poorly trained security guards too..."

And thieves also, I would imagine.

[ZombieHorde]

110. I agree. Pepper spray will stop almost anyone. nt

[Shandris]

40. On the off-chance you don't know, Zombie...

...slide the edge of a screwdriver under one of the bottom-facing corners of the spacebar and lift it up until it 'pops' a little, then do the same on the other side. There's a little movable metal bar that runs the length of it, and more often than not it's just gotten a bit out of whack. Reposition the bar (it has its own little snap-receptables in the keyboard tray, they're very obvious) and then put the spacebar directly over the 2 square-holed pegs and push straight down. Should take care of your problem. :)

[Vanje]

42. !+!

[mr clean]

45. off topic, but have you looked into using virtual keyboard?

I don't know what OS your using, but Win XP has a Accessibility virtual keyboard which you use your mouse. I use to use it when I didn't have(or need) a keyboard.

[ZombieHorde]

48. Slow, but works.

I should just buy a $10 keyboard.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

75. Or just steal one.

Or just steal 15.

[timtom]

79. Am I the only one who found your reply

HILARIOUS??

Thanks for the laugh.

[ZombieHorde]

98. Ha! I bought a new one. nt

[dana_b]

100. lol

thank you!

[JVS]

77. Copy a blank space and then just us ctrl-v to insert it whenever you need a space.

[ZombieHorde]

99. I just spent $12 on a keyboard, but that is not bad advice in a pinch. nt

[snooper2]

107. You should have spent $14 and got a wireless

:)

[ZombieHorde]

109. If I was buying a keyboard for my Playstation, then I would want a wireless,

but I don't need a wireless keyboard for my computer desk.

[dionysus]

91. that way she'd charged with assault as well as theft? the defenders of stealing on this

thread are making me laugh my ass off. would it be fine if she stole from you?

[ZombieHorde]

106. I don't think stealing from a store is any worse than illegally downloading songs.

I have been ripped off before, I did not like it, but I did not call anyone to hurt them.

[kestrel91316]

16. Stealing primo steaks is not a sign of poverty, IMHO. Stealing bags of

dry beans and rice would be.

[sammytko]

17. or something that did not require cooking, since they might not have a place to

prepare a meal....

[Lyric]

18. Why would you think that?

Logic says that if you steal 50 lbs of steak and sell them for $5 a pound, you're making a lot more than the value of a 50 lb bag of rice or beans. You could buy TEN bags of rice and beans for that amount.

Poor people can do math too, you know.

:shrug:

[indurancevile]

20. +1.

[eridani]

32. She could sell half the steaks and get 10x the beans and rice as well n/t

[Aerows]

21. You don't steal T-Bones to feed a family

You steal T-Bones to sell/trade to somebody else to get money. Thanks to her, prices for all of us feeding our families the right way, go up.

If she would have been stealing actual food and not a "luxury" item, I'd be on her side. When you steal top grade items, though, you aren't in it for the item - you are in it for the money.

I'll leave it for you to decide what that money will be used to purchase.

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. At least it was food and not makeup or something stupid.

T-Bones though.....champaign taste on a water budget. I actually feel sorry for anyone who feels they have to steal to eat. :(

How the hell could she carry 15 family packs of steak in a purse? Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. BIG purse.

[flamingdem]

36. Note how big purses came into fashion when the economy went down! nt

[bulloney]

94. She probably has a pretty good strong set of arms from carrying that much food around in one bag.

I mean, you'd REALLY look suspicious hauling something in the store with both arms.

[Fire1]

25. Is it true if you eat the food in the store, they can't arrest you?

Heard that about a year ago when a mother was feeding her kids in the grocery isle of some grocery store.

[sammytko]

26. hope so, cuz I do it all the time at Lowes

Grab a cold Pepsi and drink it while I shop. Have them scan the empty bottle when I get ready to leave. Home Depot gives away bottles of water.

[Fire1]

27. Yeah but that's not quite the same as feeding your children

dinner or lunch in the grocery store. I found that hard to believe with food stamps and all.

[Codeine]

28. Like hell we can't.

If someone eats a couple grapes or cherry tomatoes nobody cares, but if you're eating our merchandise in such quantity as to affect our bottom line you will be arrested and we will press charges.

[Fire1]

30. Just asking. Thanks n/t

[CBGLuthier]

103. No. It is NOT true. It is still stealing. They have cameras for proof.

Every once in a while someone gets into trouble doing exactly that.

[Philippine expat]

112. Don't know if its true in some places but I do know

that in Michigan and Texas you can go to jail for eating in the store before purchase

[Codeine]

29. Shoplifting is a nonstop scourge in the grocery industry.

People will steal our shit regardless of the economic climate.

[canetoad]

31. +1

Yep, and this case doesn't really seem like Jean Valjean needing bread for his family.

Of all the ways to stick it up the corporations, getting caught shoplifting is one of the sillier.

[JVS]

73. If shoplifting were a big problem they'd go back to butchers and clerks behind counters.

It's cheaper for stores to give customers free reign among the merchandise and have them bring it up (knowing that some will steal) than it is to pay the labor costs of doing things the old pre-supermarket way.

[dionysus]

93. people don't realize how low profit margins are. in my store days those losses were called "shrink"

[snooper2]

108. I thought it was grabbing organic bananas and using the self service checkout

and ringing them up as regular bananas...

or getting large organic tomatoes and ringing them up as Roma...

or, well you get the drift :P

[Erose999]

37. I always laugh at criminals who get their inspiration from the show Trailer Park Boys...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocLwRlbn1-E

[BiggJawn]

43. If you're gonna steal, steal big.

You'll get the same stretch for 50# of T-Bones as you'll get for 5# of rice.

I don't get you "Oh, she must not have been hungry if she was stealing STEAK!" people.

What, it's somehow more "noble" if she's stealing "humble food" like rice and catfood?

Does. Not. Compute.

[ohheckyeah]

53. LOL...

I agree. Why the hell steal rice and catfood? I've never been in a position of having to steal and hope I never am but if I were going to steal food I would damn sure get something I really like.

I'd probably go for the lobster. ;-)

[MADem]

69. Not always true. In some states, she committed a felony.

She hit the seven hudred and fifty dollar threshhold (fifty dollar family packs, fifteen of 'em) that makes her crime a felony in Washington state. Other states may have a lower threshhold.

A five pound bag of rice would always be a misdemeanor.

A Shoplifting Charge can be a Misdemeanor or a Felony
Most shoplifting charges involve property taken from a store with a value of less than $750 dollars. This is charged as Theft Third Degree, which is a gross misdemeanor, and is punishable by up to 365 days in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. Occasionally, the merchandise is valued at over $750 and the shoplifting charge will be a felony. "Value" means the fair market value of the property at the time and in the approximate location of the alleged criminal act. Usually prosecutors will attempt to add or "aggregate" several in expensive items together to try to meet the felony threshold of $750 dollars value. However shoplifting charges from different locations and from different victims cannot be added together to create felony charges. Policies vary in Spokane and the various surrounding communities.
http://www.grahamdefense.com/shoplifting.shtml

[MadHound]

44. Interesting reactions here,

The first one being the fact that she stole high end meat, therefore she's in it for the money and is not just stealing for her own needs.

I know if I were poor and boosting, yes, I would take the highest end stuff I could walk out with. If I'm going to steal, might as well be top dollar, and if I need to eat, why not a decent cut of meat instead of bologna or some such shit.

The second one, she stole too much and therefore isn't stealing because she is hungry, but rather stealing to sell. Well, d'uh! Of course she's stealing to sell. After all, it might be nice to pay the rent, or if she's homeless, spend a couple of night in a hotel room rather than on the streets or some other such purchase.

And yes, this kind of theft is going to rise. Summon forth the spirit of Jean Valjean.

[Lucian]

57. It wouldn't surprise me if we started seeing armed guards...

walking around in stores soon, you know, to take out the thieves stealing make-up and Tums.

:eyes:

[marmar]

74. It's sadly typical .....

So many here are quick to judge without even trying to consider the woman's situation. DU can be downright Freeperish sometimes.

[dana_b]

101. lots of judgments

on something we really don't know. Especially in this day and age, I am not willing to make those judgments.

[LanternWaste]

104. Interesting rationalizations of theft, also.

"Interesting reactions here..."

Interesting rationalizations of theft, also.

[MADem]

114. +100!!! NT

[Erose999]

46. I doubt she was going to sell these for drugs... I mean who buys steaks from a random person ?

Granted, my cousin was approached at a gas station one time by some people trying to sell him a bedroom suite. Solid wood, sleigh bed and nice dresser. He bought it for $100 and didn't ask any questions.

But you can't spray down food with Lysol, ya know?

[sammytko]

49. Happens all the time in the west side of San Antonio

Hubby's dad used to buy his meat that way. He could afford to pay full price but why bother.

[sammytko]

55. Barbershop owner would act as middleman

Shoplifters or food stamp recipients would sell the barber the meat and he would sell it to the neighbors. He would also take a cut.

[dionysus]

92. i've had people go down my street trying to sell steaks from a truck on multiple occassions.

it happens

[Lucian]

50. I see people stealing all the time and I don't care.

Really.

Why would I care that a company is losing profits? Seriously.

[mythology]

61. There are at least three reasons.

The first is that stealing is a general moral wrong.

The second is that there is the economic reason in that as more product is lost, the price for those people who don't steal goes up.

Third is that you then lack the moral ground to complain in the event that somebody steals from you including if you feel a company is stealing from you. After all, that was just your profit.

[MADem]

68. +1 nt

[Zywiec]

78. +100

[CBGLuthier]

105. Foolish attitude.

Are you really that ignorant of how the world works or is that just trying to be cool or something?

[Philippine expat]

113. The way I see it

You steal from the grocery store you steal from me because they raise their prices
to cover the lose. It's the same as if you broke into my house. The only difference is
if I catch you breaking into my house you get carried out, I catch you you at the store
you get turned in

[Xicano]

51. ....

[renate]

59. that is super cute!

I love the way he strolls in so casually and then scoots out double-speed.

[sammytko]

52. A retired veteran was killed by a shoplifter's getaway car

This was in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. Shoplifting wife was in the store boosting. Shoplifter husband was waiting in the loading zone for a quick getaway. Security told him to move as shoplifting wife was running out of the store. Husband took off and hit the old dude and left the wife behind. Of course he was caught.

I used to live by that store and witnessed a takedown of a meat stealing female shoplifter. Meat flew everywhere.

[Imagevision]

54. When it reaches the point of feeding your family? all bets are off...

[JVS]

71. That's a damned big purse.

[lunatica]

72. Security jobs. It's a fast growing business

Instead of telling the young man to go West, tell him to go into Security.

[silverlib]

76. In Austin, two bar-b-que restaurants were closed...

buying and then selling meat that was stolen from H.E.B. (our biggest grocery chain) Just thinking this type of thing is getting really organized.

[era veteran]

80. Any stealing is wrong.

There is a difference from stealing and foraging, like after Katrina.

[closeupready]

81. Sad, would like to comment later.

nt

[CBGLuthier]

82. Don't feel sorry for a fucking thief. Guaranteed she was going to sell them.

This was not some woman trying to feed her poor poor babies. This was a pro trying to make a buck.

[bhikkhu]

90. In my state its still fairly easy to get food stamps, and we have a generous food bank

...as well as two different soup-kitchen type places where people can get meals. The food stamp program is actually very good - if you can get past the paperwork, and especially if you have dependents, it is a generous benefit.

In short, at least here, a thief is very likely nothing but a thief, a miserable example of character, and quite welcome to be shipped off to prison to become someone else's problem.

[Gormy Cuss]

95. Lost in much of the discussion so far is the tidbit that shoplifting increases in bad times.

There are only two reasons for shoplifting on such a grand scale: needing money or feeding a thrill. Assuming she wasn't a thrill seeker, there are many reasons why she may have gone for the top dollar beef packs but the resale value is the mostly likely one -- resale for what reason, hard to know.

However, if such thefts rise with the fall of the economy, it would follow that there is some desperation involved -- someone who can't pay the bills, for example.

I don't condone shoplifting but I do understand that it's sometimes just a desperate move by a generally honest person.

[slackmaster]

96. Someone who steals $750 worth of beef steaks isn't doing it to feed her family

She was probably planning to sell most of them for cash.

Stealing more food than you can use is morally no different from stealing jewelry, or car parts that you don't need.

[MADem]

115. In some states, that amount puts her in felony territory. nt

[crazyjoe]

116. that's grand theft, $750 worth. bye bye honey, I hear the foods good in the big house!