So... shoplifting should be OK when it's done by an old person who later suffers a completely unrelated personal tragedy?

I agree, go directly to jail!

Shoplifting is wrong by any means for any reason. The store was right to have him arrested.

Uncle Leo???

I'm an old man. I'm confused! I thought I paid for it. What's my name? Will you take me home?

Low. Really low. Over a $3 item?

That man shouldn't have stolen in the first place, but at least he went back to make good (as opposed to going back to steal some more) and the asshat calls in the police long after the fact?

I hope they take a good PR hit.

Too bad the town isn't called "Gastronia"...that would be funny. Don't steal things...ever.

...he got CAUGHT stealing a $3 steak. If the guy is 70 and stealing steaks, I would put my reputation on the line and say that it probably isn't the first thing he has stolen.

The store is right for having him arrested. They do not determine the punishment. Given that there seems to be no question of his guilt, seems that the police/judge would be the ones to determine the severity of any eventual punishment - and thus the ones to blame if it was excessive.

@punkrawka: I think the point is, it was a waste of taxpayers money. Typically when your caught shoplifting, if its under a certain amount, they let you go possibly with a ban from the store, and take back the merchandise. They rarely press charges unless its over a certain dollar amount because it costs them more to go through the effort than the actual item cost.

That being said, what makes this particular story idiotic is the guy was going to pay them back, and they arrested him THEN. If he had never said anything they would have just pocketed it as a loss and thats it...

Did anyone know he'd stolen it before he came back to the store and tried to pay for it? If no one had, then I agree, let him pay, and let him go. If he tries it again, arrest him. But come on, $3? One time? Comes back with the money and honest intention to pay? Do we REALLY need to put our tax dollars towards and clog up the legal system more for THIS??

and just to add, in a number of states, unless it was over a certain dollar amount, the store COULD NOT press charges and have the guy arrested, zero tolerance or not for the specific reason of its a waste of taxpayer money to arrest and book someone for "petty theft" which is what this would have amounted to on the books.

I have zero tolerance for "zero tolerance policies." Holy crap I'm being eaten by a paradox.

That'll teach those damn kids a lesson they won't soon forget!

Wait, what?

The store had every right to do what they did. Whether you're 74 or 14, shoplifting is wrong and prosecution is necessary.

Wow, this story is just kind of pathetic. He "had" to steal a steak for his son's birthday and then his house burned down. What a trainwreck.

@masonreloaded: He didn't get caught, he came back and admitted it, without ever being questioned. He admitted it was wrong, and came back to try to make it right, having him ARRESTED is not proportional to the crime here.

no mind he didnt get caught stealing it, he was arrested when he returned to try to pay for it. so the store has a zero tolerance policy on paying retribution? WTF? so the message here is if you steal it and dont get caught dont return with payment or retribution... now that does not seem like the best policy.

@shan6: Having criminals arrested for breaking the law IS proportional to the crime. At minimum, this guy should end up with a criminal record, just so he never tries this crap again. I'm not saying he should serve jail time, but a record needs to be maintained of his indiscretion.

He has not yet been tried or sentenced. Putting him in prison for 30 years would NOT be proportional to the crime. Let's let the crimal justice system work here, if the guy gets more than community service or a suspended sentence for this, then let the outrage begin.

Sheesh.

If the dude was 36, or 18, would this have been posted? This is 2007, not 1807, people who are 74 these days are still scuba diving, parasailing, and leading Onyxia raids in World of Warcraft. Implying that arresting someone for shoplifting is wrong just cause they are 74 is age discrimination.

is that karma or what?!

What kind of steak only costs $3?

FoodLion = Asshats

I can't watch the video here at work so I don't know if it has more information, but from the text it isn't very clear what happened directly prior to the arrest; I got the impression that when he walked back into the store, he was recognized by employees as the guy who had stolen the steak earlier and police were called immediately, and he said afterward that he had come back to pay for it (which may or may not be true). That seems much more reasonable to me than if the guy came up to a register or the manager, confessed to stealing the steak and said he wanted to pay for it, and the cops were called based on his confession, which would be pretty stupid. Shoplifting's always going to happen; there's no reason to punish the person who tries to rectify their wrongdoing, while all the people who don't come back and confess get off scot-free.

Why didn't he go back home for the money first and then buy the steak? I don't get it.

@polyeaster: good point.

@polyeaster: The kind that's small and about to hit the sell by date (and therefore gets a Manager's discount).

@Rectilinear Propagation: Don't you get it? He was buying the steak for his son! Not himself! And he's 74! And later, his house burned down! You're supposed to have tears in your eyes right now, not bogging us down with facts!

When I was like 8 I took a dog whistle from a grocery store. Don't know why, just did. My mom found it, and after a little beating, frog-marched me back to the store to give it back and apologize directly the manager. I was terrified, and never shoplifted again.

Knowing now, that going back to the store to make simple amends can cause one to go to jail, I'm going to tell my kids to keep whatever they lift. (After the mandatory beatings, of course.)

Way to go, Food Lion!

@Propaniac: He was never recognized, he admitted to stealing the steak and was going to pay them back for it since he didnt have the money at that time and was detained. The police where called and against their wishes forced to arrest the guy because the store wanted to press charges.

What have we learned here? Keep the steak and eat it. 3 bucks huh? About the value of man's pride? Seems about right,.........there.

@polyeaster: Skirt steak is pretty cheap, it's the esophagus i believe.

Most places have tiny cuts in the 2.50-$4 department, you just have to be willing to eat a bit of questionable cow.

@Propaniac: It's hard to tell from the video. At first, from what the female reporter first says, it sounds like the arrest came from the confession. But later when the on-the-scene guy is relating what happened he only says that a produce manager insisted on calling the police after he came back to the store. He doesn't say whether they talked first, but it kinda sounds like they did.

The cops did ask if they were sure they wanted to press charges though.

@azntg: Yeah, no kidding. Stealing the steak in the first place was wrong, but the guy realized that and tried to make it right, and that's when honesty gets you kicked in the ass. Again.

Seems like being a dishonest crook is OK, but try to do something honest in society today and they'll call the pitbulls on you.

I was born in Gastonia. There are a lot of very low income families there. I find this story pretty sad, especially since he tried to go back to pay for it.

I don't consider having a petty thief prosecuted to be a waste of taxpayer's money.

Too bad he wasn't a young female Hollywood or music celebrity. They wouldn't have done a damned thing in that case.

@humphrmi: "Having criminals arrested for breaking the law IS proportional to the crime"

So why aren't speeders arrested?

"At minimum, this guy should end up with a criminal record, just so he never tries this crap again. I'm not saying he should serve jail time, but a record needs to be maintained of his indiscretion."

Why? Has the store seen this man before? Is he known for causing problems, or was this a one-time indiscretion? The fact that he tried to make his wrong right doesn't support the idea that he is a habitual criminal.

"Let's let the crimal justice system work here, if the guy gets more than community service or a suspended sentence for this, then let the outrage begin."

Whatever happened to letting gentlemen work out their differences?

Do you take your neighbors to court every time you have a minor disagreement with them?

"Sheesh"

Sheesh yourself. You think that the only way to have meaningful social interaction in society is to get law enforcement involved for every dispute, no matter the scope or severity.

He had too much pride to borrow $ from his kids, so he shoplifted instead?

If you are outraged by this, contact Food Lion and let them know that you will not be shopping at their stores until they apologize for the situation.

Let them know that as responsible members of the community they should act with an ounce of compassion.

[www.foodlion.com]

Consumerist should have also included in the headline "Cancer-Survivor", beacuse that would have made it ok to steal the steak

Uh why is this on the Consumerist? You refuse to post about the Vonage outage and the terrible customer service which would be a consumerist article. So why is shop lifting supposed to be a bad customer service issue again? He broke the law, he should go to jail.

Who wants to start a pool to see how long that food lion store will last in that town?

@DallasDMD: No, he broke the law.

@DallasDMD: So you're outraged that Food Lion wants to keep costs low by prosecuting shoplifters? What if he was 27 and not 74? You're comfortable with someone running around out there that thinks it's ok to steal if they don't have the money and will pay back "when they get a chance" (which is what he said in the video). Maybe a 20 year old meth head that wants to steal from Food Lion will see the news and think twice about doing it because Food Lion are badasses enough to send grampa to jail.

@DallasDMD: On the other hand, if you believe that people who steal are scum and should be punished accordingly, keep shopping there.

To suggest that a store should apologize for calling the police on a shoplifter is asinine, pure and simple, whether he is 7,27 or 74. Having worked in retail I saw these kinds of cases all the time - people young and old claiming it was a "one time indiscretion" and they won't do it again. You know a good method to make sure they don't? Call the police on their worthless, stealing ass.

@cmdr.sass: so let's say you had a bicycle on your front porch that you got on sale at walmart for $40 and I walked up and took it. Now this is petty thievery, are you fine with ignoring it? Because it would cost as much to prosecute me as it would the $3 steak guy. Or what if I decided to just ride around for 2 weeks, then come back and give it to you. Would you not be pissed? I mean I did intend to return it once I was done. Oh, but because Food Lion is a big company, they should tolerate theives more than you?

Shoplift: "To steal merchandise from a store that is open for business" -www.dictionary.com

I read over the entire definition and didnt see a single age requirement for shoplifting. Seems to me like anyone who steals "merchandise from a store that is open for business" should be charged with shoplifting. Age doesnt make theft ok

Just calling the cops to the scene and hauling him to jail probably cost $3 in gas.

@Trauma_Hound: Your point?

@DallasDMD:

"So why aren't speeders arrested?"

Because speeding is not a felony.

"Why [should he end up with a criminal record]? Is he known for causing problems, or was this a one-time indescretion?"

How do we know, until he has a criminal record? Are we all allowed to commit felonies *once* without reprecussions?

"Whatever happened to letting gentlemen work out their differences?"

A gentleman does not steal food because he forgot his wallet. A gentleman goes home, gets his money, and goes back to the store to buy the steak. Gentlemen are welcome to work out their differences, but criminals need to learn their lesson.

This wasn't a minor disagreement. For crying out loud, he took something that didn't belong to him. You live in a different world. Get over it.