A Walmart security guard demanded a woman hand over her baby at checkout, thinking it might have been a baby that was reported missing in the store, according to a Myspace post by the mother, Stacy Arrington of Parkville, MD (pictured):
“They are trying to tell me that Ava is not my child. She started fussing so I began taking her out of the seat. The whole time this security guard is asking me to “give him the baby”. FUCK YOU! There was no way I was handing her over! I tried to walk away, leaving her car seat, the diaper bag, even my wallet…they blocked me! I am screaming for them to get the fuck away from me. I start crying, sobbing, just holding Ava near me. Everytime the security guard put his hands near her I shifted away. Ava is screaming at the top of her lungs by this time. I am screaming to get a manager. I started telling them everything I could think of to prove she is mine. Her birthmark, hospital card in the diaper bag, my ID in my wallet…pictures of her in my wallet. I am screaming that I am going to sue the FUCK out of them and God help them when my husband and father hear about this!
Finally the manager realizes they have the wrong person….. he gives me everything for free… he puts the bags in my card and I basically run out of the store, still holding Ava. I couldnt get out of that parking lot fast enough.”
We’re getting really sick of these stories of unlawful detention by stores. Your rentacop badge doesn’t make you God.
September 10, 2007 – Monday [Stacy Arrington] (Thanks to Amanda!)
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@stacyarrington: “Can we please leave this alone and let me handle MY business.”
No.
If you didn’t want this private matter discussed on the Internet, then perhaps you shouldn’t have posted a text file about it to the Internet.
While I believe the security guard handled your situation inappropriately and that repercussions up to termination are appropriate, I am beginning to wonder if certain traits of your personality exacerbate many situations for you.
@Rob916: Wow with all the law enforcement training, you’d think you actually knew what you are talking about. But you don’t, it is unlawful detainment. At worse attempted kid napping.
I must say, I am thoroughly enjoying this discussion…
@dbeahn: Yeah, the barrista boy being with another man would tend to clinch it. My apologies.
@TheUncleBob:
They (Wal-Mart) shouldn’t be sued unless they carelessly positioned their items in such a way that customers could easily hurt themselves. Consider the high shelves in a lot of these supermarkets. A kid could easily climb these things unsupervised and break his neck falling down, but you can’t really blame the store for simply having high shelves now can you? So I usually err on the side of holding the parents responsible for the child, unless a clear injustice has occurred. And if they don’t look out for their kid, it doesn’t mean someone else should be expected to step in and do their job for them.
@stacyarrington: “I am 34 years old, self employed, NOT on welfare.. 90% of pregnant women had/have WIC!”
Stacy, I support you 100% but I have to tell you – WIC *IS* essentially welfare. It’s funded by taxpayer dollars so you can get food at the store without having to pay for it. Some taxpayers might say that they never signed up to have their tax dollars go to feeding you and your baby.
As for your claim that 90% of women have utilized WIC – that is not true. This page links to the latest data on WIC participation numbers: [www.fns.usda.gov]
In 2006, about 8 million people participated in WIC. The US has about 300 million residents. That’s about 2.7% of the population participating in WIC.
@stacyarrington:
Oh dear Lord, no. We have nothing better to do which is evidenced by the flood of comments on this article.
Sorry, Stacy, but this article and its comments are just delicious. You have attempted baby theft followed by protective momma bear, followed by internet jack-asses without children who think that momma-bear should have relinquished her baby to the complete stranger on a bizarre power trip.
I know this is your life, but for the rest of us it is just a ton of fun to argue about.
First off I do not have to explain anything to anyone on any website, lets get that perfectly straight. The only people/person that needs to know the whole story is my family and my attorney if I go that route. I honestly could care less about this or any other website featuring this. My husband and I appreciate the support when its given and have laughed at the nay sayers comments. These sites and everyones comments do not make my case beneficial or not!
As I have stated before, I never posted anything to this site or any other. Only my own MySpace, how it got on the numberous sites its now on I dont know.
I will answer this: I have no idea where the woman was. Maybe she was at the front door, I have no clue. She was not at the register with me.
People have said I wasnt cooperative. Thats wrong. I was not told what was going on until after they “cleared me”. And after being upset like that, no, I did not want to stick around. I wanted to go home. I never stated sticking around was an inconvience for me at all. In normal circumstances had this not gone down the way it did, I would have helped look for the missing child. I would have gladly waited while they did a lock down.
I have been bashed for the header on my MySpace “the psychotic babblings of one crazy person – ME!”, I got that from a very funny book I once read! Its a joke between a friend and I.
Look a my MySpace, I am a fun loving person… I am very family oriented. My kids, my husband, my father and sisters are all my top people. I am not crazy for Gods sake. I flipped ou finally after a guard tried to repeatedly take my daughter from me, PERIOD! Did I curse? Yeah. Did I yell? Yeah. Did I cry? Most certainly, it was the scariest thing I think I’ve ever been through! I didnt care about my wallet, money, diaper bag etc…. after having someone try to take your child, telling you the whole time that your child isnt yours, I just wanted out of there! Everything else is replaceable, my daughter isnt!
I am an educated person. I finished school, went to college, and am currently in school part time furthering my education even more. I pay my bills, pay my rent, take care of my kids.
I have been bashed for calling my daughter a “miracle”… I’m not sure if that was here or else where but to us (my husband and I) she is. We have been together for 7 years and have had 20+ miscarriages. I was told we probably would never have a baby together. Then Ava happened….
No one, ever will take my child. No one politely asked me to wait…. all I got was “ma’am hand over the baby…” When I asked why, I was told because she wasnt mine. Can any of you people imagine what I was feeling? I was terrified…. I tried to continue about my business and the rent a cop kept demanding her reaching his arms out to take her. NO! Repeatedly!!! Then I got mad, upset, hysterical…whatever you all want to call it.
I’ll tell you what, no matter what anyone wants to say, I KNOW I did the right thing! I had no proof at the beginning this person was really a Walmart employee… so what just hand my child over to a stranger…. NO!
I am being bashed and you know what, I DID NOT ask for ANY of this! Not these assumptions by people who dont know me or my family, not to be detained if you will….
I do have to wonder about the policies of Consumerist.com for posting such a story without the consent of the party involved.
I mean, they are perfectly allowed to post this story (concerns about copyrighted photos and text aside, mind you)… But when the person the story is about has made it pretty clear that they don’t really want their story posted here – a site that is supposed to be for the customers, I really have to wonder…
@Trauma_Hound: Could you be a little more specific?
@Trauma_Hound: “it is unlawful detainment.”
Under which state’s law? Different states have different laws as to what does and does not constitute unlawful detainment, so I’m curious to know which law from which state you are citing with this statement.
@stacyarrington: “I am being bashed and you know what, I DID NOT ask for ANY of this!”
Um, yes, you did ask for this. You posted it publicly on the internet. You didn’t set your blog to “private”, so you were posting publicly. You called Fox news and ASKED them for attention. It’s a little late now to try and say you didn’t ask for any of this. You DO NOT call Fox news if you want to keep a matter private among your friends and family.
You do have my sympathy because I’m sure this is far more attention than you wanted, or ever imagined.
“I am an educated person. I finished school, went to college, and am currently in school part time furthering my education even more. I pay my bills, pay my rent, take care of my kids.”
I hope you are educated. I hope and pray that you will THINK about the effect and repercussions of a lawsuit. Changes will be made to protect stores from more lawsuits like yours, and children will be allowed to leave stores with people they are not supposed to be with. Yours is without a doubt an extreme example of good intentions that freaked someone out, but at the end of the day, there was no harm done beyond your feelings being jumbled.
If you go forward with a lawsuit, that would be saying quite clearly that your feelings are worth more than the life of even one child.
@bluegus32: “internet jack-asses without children who think that momma-bear should have relinquished her baby to the complete stranger on a bizarre power trip.”
Has anyone actually made the comment that she should have relinquished her child? I’ve suggested she should have asked them to call the police, or called the police herself, and held on to her child until they arrived, but I don’t remember anyone saying she should have handed over the baby…
@dbeahn:
Agree@whiningaboutwantingtobeprivatebutbeingjackassandplasteringstoryoninter-f’ing-nationalnews
Also agree@lastreply.
But then, no one ever bothers to pay attention to what someone is ACTUALLY saying. I’ve said repeatedly that she had every right to be upset if the guard REALLY told her to hand over the baby.
But somehow, people read “she has every right to be upset if the guard told her to hand over the baby” as “wow, she’s stupid and should have just given the baby to the guard no matter what.” I’m not sure if they can’t read, or if they’re dense.
@dbeahn: “I hope you are educated. I hope and pray that you will THINK about the effect and repercussions of a lawsuit. Changes will be made to protect stores from more lawsuits like yours, and children will be allowed to leave stores with people they are not supposed to be with. “
Just thought that needed to be said again.
Three things for Stacy:
1) Stacy, if you don’t care what we think, don’t respond. Your responses betray your true feelings.
2) You’ve learned that there’s no such thing as privacy when you make public postings on the internet. Consider that for the future.
3) It seems difficult for you (it’s a skill many don’t pick up until their late thirties), but practice perspective taking here. Try to imagine that your child has been taken. Consider that there are babies snatched from attentive parents regularly. No child can be watched all the time and kidnappers don’t exactly work slowly. Take a deep breath, go back and read dbeahn’s comment again, and think how you’d like things to be handled if your baby is the one missing.
@TheUncleBob:
Posting ANYTHING on the internet essentially gives everyone the right to reference it, though not necessarily the right to duplicate it. No different from throwing you movie script into an audience – once you put it out there, you can’t take it back.
This is, of course, why the government is so gung-ho on regulating sites like myspace – people are too stupid to understand that putting pictures of yourself in your underwear on the internet is, at best, a bad idea.
dbeahn, as I have stated now on many occasions if you read my prior posts… if Walmart would have handled it correctly, told me the problem etc, instead of their first reaction demanding my child, I would have gladly waited it out! Instead 20+ times they asked to HAND OVER MY CHILD! Not go wait, nothing….
@RvLeshrac:
Again, as I said, Consumerist is perfectly allowed to post about this story (copyright concerns about the text and image aside though – I’m sure there could be a copyright issue there). However, considering the site is supposed to be “for the shoppers” and this particular shopper has stated she is not interested in having her story posted here, it just seems like bad policy.
Can we, as free human beings, go around and tell stories about everything we’ve seen/heard about?
Yeah.
Should we, as caring human beings, take the feelings of others into consideration before doing so?
@stacyarrington: “dbeahn, as I have stated now on many occasions if you read my prior posts… if Walmart would have handled it correctly, told me the problem etc, instead of their first reaction demanding my child, I would have gladly waited it out! Instead 20+ times they asked to HAND OVER MY CHILD! Not go wait, nothing….”
Yes, I hear you. I’m simply asking (as I have before) that *looking back*, now that you KNOW what was going on, you show a little compassion and understanding for the mother who’d had her baby STOLEN. I’m asking that you look into your heart and THINK about the lives of the children that will be stolen, raped, molested, tortured and murdered as the result of the lawsuit you’re thinking about filling. If you are truly the educated, family oriented, fun loving person you keep saying you are, then think about the blood that will be on your hands if you WIN your lawsuit, take the money, and as a result force changes in the systems (CODE Adam and Amber Alert) that have been PROVEN to safe the lives of children just like your little Ava. You, quite rightly, wouldn’t hand over your daughter to a stranger. PLEASE PLEASE don’t make it easier for some stranger to steal another woman’s child because you want to see if you can milk a settlement from WalMart.
You seem very focused on how “badly you were wronged”, but in truth, you were just scared and angry. You were in a very public place with multiple people around you, neither you or your child were in any actual danger. It’s really starting to sound like it’s all about the chance to make some money from a lawsuit.
dbeahn, any parent should see a (potentially armed) man demanding demanding she hand over her daughter as a danger.
Also, just because he has a uniform doesn’t mean he’s not a kidnapper — last year an fake nurse kidnapped a newborn in Lubbock.
@dbeahn: Sadly, the damage has probably already been done. And it’s not really this woman’s fault. Because the stupid security guard overreacted, I’m sure, at least the local stores to this woman’s area, are already reviewing their policies in such a situation.
And now, one guard is going to hesitate and that hesitation is going to give the wrong person the few seconds they need to do something that is absolutely going to change a lot of lives forever.
@thomamas: “dbeahn, any parent should see a (potentially armed) man demanding demanding she hand over her daughter as a danger.
Also, just because he has a uniform doesn’t mean he’s not a kidnapper — last year an fake nurse kidnapped a newborn in Lubbock.”
A few things – first, I never suggested she hand over the child. Second, she was in the middle of the checkout line at a WalMart in the middle of the day – she was surrounded by lots and lots of people, AND there was a Code Adam in progress. NO ONE was going anywhere out of that store with ANY child until the police arrived. Neither she nor her daughter were in any danger.
Third, this is a woman that had zero sympathy for the woman who’s child was ACTUALLY missing/stolen. Stacy’s comment was that the woman who’s child was stolen was a moron parent. Stacy STILL hasn’t apologized for that, nor expressed anything resembling remorse or sympathy.
@TheUncleBob: I’m not sure the guard did over react. We have yet to see what the statement of other witnesses are. We have yet to see the review of the security tape. It could well be that the damage is only the direct result of this woman posting her rant and trying to make herself a victim to set herself up for a payday lawsuit. I’m not saying that IS the case, but since we only have one side of the story, we don’t know it ISN’T the case, either.
I mean, this is the woman that said she “never wanted any attention”, and yet called the TV News and asked them to do a story on what happened. I mean, come on. Who calls the news because they want to keep something private?
@dbeahn:
“NO ONE was going anywhere out of that store with ANY child until the police arrived.”
Wrong. Security guards (civilians) don’t have the authority to proclaim it a crime scene, nor hold “suspects” unless a crime has been witnessed. Simply having a child with you is not enough to determine probable cause. A lot of parents go shopping with their kids, you can’t hold all of them just because of something arbitrary like Code Adam. Remember, it means “missing child”. The world does not stop spinning because some kid ran off.
@TheUncleBob:
“And now, one guard is going to hesitate and that hesitation is going to give the wrong person the few seconds they need to do something that is absolutely going to change a lot of lives forever.”
Their job is to observe, and only step in when they WITNESS a crime. How many times do I have to point this out?
@TheUncleBob:
I agree completely about the post, but for different reasons.
That said, she posted here, and I didn’t really see her demanding that it be taken down. I doubt the Consumerist would still have the post up if she did.
Moreso, since the original source contacted the media, the problem she has obviously isn’t with the publicity – the problem she has is with the fact that here, we can comment on it.
I guarantee that if all of the comments had been rosy and fully supportive, she wouldn’t be talking about ‘privacy’.
@Auranaut:
You fully have the right to hold someone until the police arrive, assuming that the authorities were called.
There’s a legal difference between tying someone up or locking them in a room indefinitely and securing the building until the police arrive.
If a crime has been committed, you’re not legally allowed to leave the scene anyway if you may have information related to the crime.
If she’d just run straight out of the building without saying anything to them, the police may have shown up later at her home to book her and remove the child until a confirmation of the kid’s identity could be obtained. It would be unlikely (the other child was probably found wandering the store), but it is certainly NOT outside the realm of possibility.
the rent-a-cop must have missed the day they taught the,”how to properly detain a person if you think they may have kidnapped a baby.” class, or the,”dealing with hysterical people that may be attempting to kidnap a baby” course.
they might have gone about it the wrong way, but common. won’t someone please think about the children.
@Auranaut: “Wrong. Security guards (civilians) don’t have the authority to proclaim it a crime scene, nor hold “suspects” unless a crime has been witnessed. Simply having a child with you is not enough to determine probable cause.”
First, we’re talking about whether she and her child were in danger – they weren’t. Second, you don’t need “probably cause” to hold someone, you need it to arrest someone and/or get a warrant or file charges. To detain someone, you need “reasonable suspicion”. Such as having a child with you that matches the description of a missing child. [en.wikipedia.org]
“Courts have ruled that a stop for a reasonable suspicion may be appropriate in the following cases: when a person possesses many unusual items which would be useful in a crime and appears agitated, when a person matches a description of a suspect, or when a person runs away at the sight of police officers. However, a reasonable suspicion may not apply merely because a person refuses to answer questions, declines to allow a voluntary search, or is of a suspected race or ethnicity.”
Again, we’re talking about whether she and her child were in danger. They weren’t. They were in a public place, with multiple people around, and the worst case possible was that they’d be stuck there until the police arrived and verified it was her child. No, you can’t “hold all of them”, nor do you need to. You only need to hold the ones matching the description of the missing kid.
Wal-Mart: The company we all love to hate, but shop at anyway.
@dbeahn:
My bad, I meant reasonable suspicion, rather than cause.
Point is though, that all kids pretty much look alike. A security guard doesn’t have the authority to confirm somebody’s identity, so if a kid is missing doesn’t mean he has the right to bug other people and their children.
Here’s the routine for Code Adam (from Wikipedia):
“1) If a visitor reports a child is missing, a detailed description of the child and what he or she is wearing is obtained.
2) The employee goes to the nearest in-house telephone and pages Code Adam, describing the child’s physical features and clothing. As designated employees monitor front entrances, other employees begin looking for the child.
3) If the child is not found within 10 minutes, law enforcement is called.
4) If the child is found and appears to have been lost and unharmed, the child is reunited with the searching family member.
5) If the child is found accompanied by someone other than a parent or legal guardian, reasonable efforts to delay their departure will be used without putting the child, staff, or visitors at risk. Law enforcement will be notified and given details about the person accompanying the child.
6) The Code Adam page will be canceled after the child is found or law enforcement arrives.”
Notice #5. It says THE child, not ANY child. Security should only do this step if they have a 100% positive ID on the child. They didn’t. Also notice how none of it says they should detain bystanders or anybody not fully confirmed to be a part of the situation, so some form of “lockdown” is completely out of the question.
Because we live in a free society, #1 and #2 are crucial so you don’t end up holding innocent people. Security should in fact gather as much information as possible BEFORE acting. Sure, a kidnapper might get away with a baby once in a while. It happens. But giving up your freedom for security is clearly the wrong thing to do.
@RvLeshrac:
“If a crime has been committed, you’re not legally allowed to leave the scene anyway if you may have information related to the crime.”
But no crime was committed. Kids run off all the time, it’s not an excuse to call a lockdown. I got lost in one of the biggest shopping malls in Sweden once, but nobody locked the exits and forced everybody to stay inside. You must realise how ridiculous that idea is.
If a man lay bleeding on the floor, then that might be a good reason to keep everybody around.
@Auranaut: “Notice #5. It says THE child, not ANY child. “
Don’t be a moron. It’s not like you can ASK a 5 month old “Hey, are you so and so?” And even with an older child, are you saying that if a 5 year old looks scared shitless but, under threat from the kidnapper, says “Yeah, this is my mom” you should just LET THEM GO?
Also, if you can’t identify the child 100%, are you saying that you believe they should let them go? How do you verify 100% that it is THE child without stopping or stalling them?
“Sure, a kidnapper might get away with a baby once in a while. It happens. But giving up your freedom for security is clearly the wrong thing to do.”
Right. So in other words, if you happen to be in line in front of me, therefore impacting my freedom by holding me up, I should just shoot you in the head, because it’s wrong of you to feel secure standing in a line since it’s interfering with my freedom.
Part of “freedom” is knowing you’ll be safe. Your right to “freedom” doesn’t include having the right to endanger someone else. That’s why toy makers don’t have the “freedom” to use cheaper lead based paints. It’s why we have laws about “reckless endangerment”. It’s why there’s such a thing as “criminal negligence”. For someone that seems to think freedom is so important, you seem to know very little about the laws that give you as much freedom as you have. Part of having freedom is living up to the responsibilities that come along with it.
Having a child with you that matches the description of the missing one gives “reasonable suspicion”. The whole point of the concept of “reasonable suspicion” is that it allows the vast majority of “innocent” people to NOT be inconvenienced while still allowing for the safety that is provided for under the rule of law. In THIS case, there was reasonable suspicion, so they stalled her waiting for the police or to make a positive ID on the child. The other option, the one that would ACTUALLY be infringing on people’s freedom, is that they lock down the store.
And here’s an update from Stacy’s blog: “They just got my story….. it was headquarters. Yes I got their name but I will not post it here. I am getting an attorney. Anyone know a very good one?”
Yupper. Just one more example of white trash, knocked up at 17 (she’s 34 and has a 16 year old, remember?) case of you can take a girl out of the trailer park but you can’t take the trailer park out of the girl. She doesn’t give a shit about the safety of anyone else’s children, or by extension her own, not if she thinks she can make some fast, easy money.
Hmmm, lets see, what do you know about me, the trailer trash. Do you know I skipped a grade. I was married at 17 when I had my son and had been with his father for 4 years at that point. Nope not trailer trash. Went to high school, graduated early in fact, went to college, got a degree in early Childhood Education and Special Education. Stayed married to that husband for 15 years. He cheated on me, I left his sorry ass and found a real man and had my daughter. I am still continuing my education and take classes on Saturdays!
In case your either blind or just plain stupid let me refresh your memory of what has been stated prior. Itw as NOT that I didnt care about the other child. I did not know about the other child until I was being lead out of Walmarts front door.
Do yourself a big favor… talk about something you know about. You were not there, you only know what I have allowed anyone to know, what I wrote or write. And you certainly dont know me.
Get a life. Get away from your computer for five minutes will ya? What a pathetic life you must have… when you have to sit in front of a computer to read about someone elses life!
@stacyarrington: I am talking about something I know about. Your actions tell me everything I need to know.
If you had any sympathy, you wouldn’t state publicly that the mother with the stolen child was a “moron parent”.
Married at 17 when you had your son, so you may be right, I may have been wrong. Are you correcting me and you were knocked up at 16?
Speaking of moron parents, that sure sounds like the kind of parent that would have a kid that got knocked up at 16 and married at 17.
As for having a life – I’m not the one posting publicly about an incident “I never wanted any attention for” and I’m not the one calling the news because “I don’t want any attention”. It’s interesting that you say I can’t possibly know anything about you from your actions and the information you’ve posted, yet although I’ve said next to nothing about myself, you know me well enough to tell me I need to get a life.
Never in my life would I have ever thought I’d root for WalMart for anything for any reason. You’ve changed that. I hope WalMart’s lawyers destroy you in court, and make your life a living hell out side of court, digging through your past, pulling out every skeleton you have in your closet, and making your children hear it all from their friends and classmates. You don’t give a shit about keeping children safe, you’re just in it for the money, and you’ve made it clear you don’t care that other innocent children will suffer and die as a result.
@stacyarrington:
Stacy.
Stop coming here.
It’s only going to drive you crazy and make you angry.
There is literally no good reason for you to come here, unless you simply enjoy torturing yourself.
People are going to try to pick apart your story based on what they read.
They weren’t there. So they will make assumptions at some point.
Correcting those assumptions isn’t going to make them stop.
I understand what you are saying and trying to do here. Stop wasting your time and raising your blood pressure.
Why care what anyone else thinks, especially people on the consumerist when you are the only person who really knows what happened?
@killavanilla: “There is literally no good reason for you to come here, unless you simply enjoy torturing yourself.”
She likes the attention. You know, the “attention she didn’t want”. Apparently when someone as highly educated as Stacy doesn’t want attention, she posts on the internet, called the 6 O’Clock news, and then keeps posting updates on the internet.
“Why care what anyone else thinks, especially people on the consumerist when you are the only person who really knows what happened?”
I’m betting there will be lots of other people who really know what happened, and video tape of it too.
its amazing that you deleted my comment…whats the matter dont like the focus on YOU!
hello???
Anyone who has a basic grasp of how the world works does not shop at Walmart. Anyone that does? Perhaps they would be better off having someone else raise their children.
@stacyarrington: I would assume someone who has a higher degree in Childhood Education would value all childrens’ rights and safety. I’m sorry to say that with each passing comment you make, that gets harder and harder for me to believe.
Anyway, if you are in talks with a lawyer right now, you probably can’t be talking about it in a public forum like this, so if I were you, I’d shut my trap and move on with my family and my daughter and my court case.
@dbeahn:
I get it dbeahn.
I know what’s up. My suggestion had literally nothing to do with my asessment of the story anymore. Stacy is getting wrapped up in a squabble she shouldn’t be even entertaining, any way you slice it.
Stacy, settle down and stop logging in to the thread. It doesn’t matter what anyone else here thinks. Just stop. I can tell by the posts you have put here that it is upsetting you.
Either that, or you are a troll, egging on a fight for the fun of it.
It’s okay.
You handle your business. Ignore the fight. If your story is accurate, fighting about it here isn’t going to resolve or resolve the situation.
If you’re story contains inaccuracies or exaggerations, coming here isn’t going to convince people that they don’t exist.
For all we know, you aren’t even the person from the story.
Now, I’m pretty sure there is a better chance that if YOU stop, others will too. Plus, it just isn’t fair to ask the entire consumerist community to NOT post about the story. You are one, they are many…
@RvLeshrac: “you’d be willing to just let the kidnapper/pedo waltz out the door with someone else’s child in tow” ??
Where did you glean this from in my post, there, Mephisto?
And saying the woman ‘overreacted’ as you and others insinuate indicates again that you don’t have kids or don’t care about the ones you have.
Mothers that I know would not consider what she says she did “overreacting” at all.
I believe that the advice of law eforcement professionals is to yell scream and call as much attention to yourself as possible in this situation.
I’m surprised no one commented on the fact that a person who has just snatched a baby doesn’t typically go wait in line at the register and calmly check out with their purchases, giving time for the alert to be raised. Any security guard with a brain should have recognized that if this woman had just snatched that baby she would have been exiting the store as quickly as possible to get away, not calmly waiting in line for a moron cashier who “is staring at Ava the whole time as she is scanning my items. Infact several times she had to scan them more than once because she was so preoccupied with Ava. She then excuses herself before giving me my total and uses the phone at her register to ask for assistance and gives some “code”.” If this woman had just grabbed a baby, she would not have stayed in line with a cashier who was acting suspicious and making a call for help. The security guard should have realized all this before he ever approached the woman with the baby.
Regardless of the intelligence of the security guard, the mother handled herself very poorly, escalating the situation through her own actions, instead of just calmly stating that she was not handing her baby over to anyone and asking immediately for a manager to come handle it. Remaining calm is always the easiest way to deal with any situation, if she had not become irrational and started yelling and screaming, the entire scene could have been avoided.
BOTH the mother and the security guard handled the entire situation very poorly.
I’m sure a lot of parents will agree with me on this, but try to take my child out of my arms, you might get a golf club to the head. Parents will go to the ends of the earth to protect their children, and we all know it. You simply don’t approach a mother and tell her to hand over her 3-year-old. Period. I would have expected her to kick his fat ass. I’m surprised she was only screaming at the top of her lungs.
You simply don’t say “Ma’am, hand over your child.” You NEVER say that. You calmly explain that there’s a missing child and that you would like her to wait here for a minute while you go get the missing child’s parent. As a parent, she most likely would understand. and besides, the “missing” child was probably sitting in the toy department.