UPDATE: This guy is a liar! He stole the Pepsi after he was past the check out, and has now admitted to making the whole story up for reporters.
Have you ever accidentally forgot to pay for some heavy item that you stowed under you shopping cart? We have, too! Unlike one Cleveland man, however, we did not go to jail for it.
From WLKY:
Tom Sturgis has a long receipt showing the $157.20 worth of two grocery carts full of groceries that he bought at a Brooklyn supermarket Saturday night. After going through the self checkout, Sturgis said he forgot a $4 case of pop under the cart.
A police officer working security at the store asked to see his receipt.
“I went looking for the receipt, the pop wasn’t on it and they decided to have me arrested,” he said.
Sturgis was arrested on a petty theft charge.
Sturgis, who said he has never had so much as a parking ticket, found himself being led out of the store in handcuffs. He spent 11:30 p.m. until 3 a.m. in jail that night.
At home, his wife said she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“It’s over a case of pop,” said Wendy Sturgis. “He turned around and offered to go back in and pay for it and the cop told him it’s like robbing a bank, you just can’t get caught robbing a bank and say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll give you your money back.’”
Robbing a bank? The Great Case Of Pop Robbery Of ’08? Yes, I’m sure the guy’s grand plan was to buy over a hundred dollars worth of groceries as a cover for his brilliant $4 pop theft.
We humbly suggest that this police officer is not very good at his job.
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Please excuse my unnecessarily long post. The persons responsible for it have been sacked.
@veterandem:
He’s probably moonlighting as security. Police often do this because they are paid quite well for it. WAY more than some non-cop security guard.
Ahhhhh….childhood memories. Ok….college memories. Anyone remember that yellow tape that Sears used on large bulk items as proof of purchase in addition to your reciept?
Well…..as a hazing, I had to go to Sears and get ahold of the tape and attempt to get something big. I got a little crazy and grabbed a canoe, yes a full size canoe stuck the tape on it, lifted it over my head and walked to the door.
I was about 10 feet from the door when 2 Sears employees ran over to me. I was thinking, “Shit, I am so busted” They run over and both of them grab ahold of the canoe and asked if I needed help out to my vehicle.
I drove alone in my truck and my buddies all drove in another car that was parked next to my truck. They were all stunned when I appear with a canoe and 2 helpful Sears employees to help me load it. Made for a great weekend canoing down the Guadalupe river and getting drunk. And I became a legend……ahhhhh good times, good times!
Don’t judge me……unless you can judge yourself as perfect. We all did crazy shit when we were younger…..keep your “thieving” comments to yourself good people.
@darundal: “Ignorance is no excuse, but this is a prime example of following the letter and not the spirit of the law.”
Absolutely. Shoplifting is against the law; being forgetful is not.
i thought u cannot be arrested unless you walk out of store with item. thats what they told us at best buy when i worked there, that we could not accuse someone unless we caught them on tape and we could not arrest them for it until the left the store.
@forgottenpassword: Is there a way we can make a big stink about it?
@The Marionette & @AlteredBeast:
Actually, it’s called coke, no matter what brand, type, flavor, etc…it’s all coke. You go into a restaurant and the waiter asks you what you want to drink. You say, “I want a coke.” They respond with: “Okay, what kind.” From there you choose from your options: Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Pibb, Pepsi, etc.
That’s how we roll down south!
Seriously? They arrested the guy over FOUR DOLLARS OF SODA? That he probably legitimately forgot?
Now, I’m not a lawyer or anything, but I really think this guy should consider getting one, and sue the store (for employing an idiot as a security guard), the police department that hired such a moron, and the guard himself. I’ve no idea under what, but I really, honestly think this fellow should make as much trouble as possible for as many people as possible.
This is so damn stupid, and something needs to happen so nobody involved forgets about it anytime soon.
Stupid should hurt. If not physically, then financially.
This story makes me sad. this guys record is now ruined by some over reaction.
It’s my understanding at first this guy refused to stop when requested then refused to show his receipt. After arguing a bit the guy, still refusing to show his receipt told the cop something like “I don’t deal with rent-a-cops call a real one or leave me alone” or some such thing, the cop identified himself as an off-duty officer upon which the guy pulled the receipt out of his pocket and the coke wasn’t on it. The cop had watched him so he knew the coke wasn’t there. Anyway this is what I was told.
Tell the company directly what you think. Here’s the email of the VP Corp. Communications, President, and CFO:
Daniel.Donovan@gianteagle.com,David.Shapira@gianteagle.com, Mark.Minnaugh@gianteagle.com,
This is complete bullshit. The cop cannot ask for his receipt or even stop him to discuss his fucking groceries unless someone in the store flagged him as a shoplifter. If the cop is off-duty then he’s a renta-cop and he should have called the REAL cops to do the arresting.
Anyway, nice fucking detective work there, sherlock. What if the customer had bought the cans of coke separately and didn’t keep the bill? (Loblaws often stacks soft drink cans after the cashes for whatever bizarre reason).
Regardless, it’s possible that the customer knowingly didn’t ring up the softdrinks and the store manager was being an asshole. Anybody who has to unpack and pack their own groceries in a self-serve checkout is going to notice large packages left under their cart.
Sorry, but the police officer working security does’nt sound like the smartest guy. BTW, here down south we normally called carbonated soft drinks “soda”. It’s a regional thing.
@mariospants:
You know what? Sometimes when I’m shopping I’ll grab a bottle of water or green tea and start drinking it. Imagine if this cop would’ve caught this poor guy doing something like that? He could’ve said he was under arrest for strong arm theft or defrauding an inn-keeper or some crap like that. I just hope this guy sues and wins BIG. I don’t believe in sueing for being inconvienienced (spell check!) or being annoyed…but being ARRESTED? Sweet candy coated Jesus, I’d sue EVERYBODY. lol.
@Dobernala:
The idea is that if you are too smart you will get bored or frustrated and leave, causing your jurisdiction to lose out on all they spent on training.
@BeFrugalNotCheap:
You would sue everyone, spend a bunch of money on lawyers, lose, and look like a fool after the fact. There is no cause of action here (unless there was some malice on the part of the officer/store, which hasn’t been shown).
It’s not JUST Ohio…
Chicago: Actually got stopped there and had a reciept read up and down, when it was very obvious that I bought a laptop from a Best Buy there (Strangely the person who checked me out also was the person who thought I were stealing the laptop!)
Go figure.
NYC: The other town I live in… Stopped there because he didn’t know if I walked out with a jersey from a Foot Locker that was on a rack. Sucked for him that it had a CC Sabathia autograph on it.
Huntsville, AL: When I were 18, I just graduated from a military school, and was jogging across the street from a Borders to Madison Square Mall, when two squad cars pulled out and drew weapons at me. no merchandise on me, just wanted to catch a taxi. I had to make it on base before student curfew (I were leaving for Germany the next day, but not before I made a complaint with the post IG.)
It’s not JUST Ohio that has asshole cops. Those are just three instances.
TV’s Alton Brown once got nabbed in a Kroger for picking up some donuts, eating one, and forgetting the rest of the pack on a shelf.
cases like this have gone to the Supreme Court. Basically YES you can be jailed for any violation of the law. The case on point was a woman who failed to wear a seatbelt and the cop dragged her downtown and had her spend the night in jail.
Yes we live in a police state. It is a waste of time and money. But the US Supreme Court said police have discretion in their job and they should not have another burden of figuring out whether they can jail someone or not for an offense.
The real question is whether he committed a crime of petty theft. For petty theft you have to have the mens rea, i.e. the intent to steal. Based on the simple facts it is reasonable to assume he did not intend to steal. This is his defense. Secondly, it is an attempt to steal (he never left the store) so truly, the prosecutor will have to prove specifically that intent to steal.
DO NOT PLEAD GUILTY BUDDY!
FIGHT IT!!!!!
The “Security Guard” was working there, and most likely watched this guy check out. And by watch I mean, stood at the door, and literally watched him check out. Now that implies he knew that the offender hadn’t paid for the soda, hence why he could ferret it out of the receipt w/o going through all the bags. The question now is, why didn’t he walk over to the guy as he was checking out and politely remind him of the contents in the bottom of his cart? Then again he could have assumed this gentleman was “forgetting” it on purpose and wanted to make an arrest for petty theft. Arrest someone who can be on the street in 5 hours and do it again, or prevent a crime from being committed? Clearly not the the sharpest knife in the drawer.
@digitalhen: It’s things like this that are the reason why as far as I’m concerned, “may I see your receipt” is usually answered with “fuck off”.
@Pylon83: Part of figuring out if a crime was committed, is if he had reason to believe the guy had intent to steal.
@Bill Brasky: State and stature number please. I HAVE TO see it with my own eyes
If he technically hadn’t left the premises at that point, how can you claim he stole anything?
ECB for the city of Brooklyn Ohio. Let them know how you feel about this:
mbowen@brooklynohio.gov,
jbundy@brooklynohio.gov,
dhammond@brooklynohio.gov,
dhilberg@brooklynohio.gov,
rkelber@brooklynohio.gov,
lchangeri@brooklynohio.gov,
jpatta@brooklynohio.gov,
csullivan@brooklynohio.gov,
kpatton@brooklynohio.gov,
mtenaglia@brooklynohio.gov,
Hgoldberg@brooklynohio.gov,
jbasniak@brooklynohio.gov,
tgilligan@brooklynohio.gov,
hwilson@brooklynohio.gov,
rscarburough@brooklynohio.gov,
jegan@brooklynohio.gov,
rtumino@brooklynohio.gov,
csmith@brooklynohio.gov,
tockington@brooklynohio.gov,
rporterfield@brooklynohio.gov,
joper@brooklynohio.gov,
rneale@brooklynohio.gov,
desper@brooklynohio.gov,
jwalz@brooklynohio.gov,
jkazimour@brooklynohio.gov,
rbarrett@brooklynohio.gov,
jhartman@brooklynohio.gov,
jmagrey@brooklynohio.gov,
rbalbler@brooklynohio.gov,
sclaussen@brooklynohio.gov,
cgallagher@brooklynohio.gov,
gfrey@brooklynohio.gov,
jmagrey@brooklynohio.gov,
cpatton@brooklynohio.gov,
kpuccl@brooklynohio.gov,
denovitch@brooklynohio.gov,
sbrown@brooklynohio.gov,
dgamble@brooklynohio.gov,
rkinney@brooklynohio.gov,
rkappler@brooklynohio.gov,
dbredenbeck@brooklynohio.gov,
@SuffolkHouse:
Ohio’s a lot more “southern” than you think it is. I should know. I live here.
@cde: I didn’t say it made sense!
Local station Q104 had Sturgis on the air as well as a woman who claimed to be at the scene.
The woman claimed that Sturgis checked out then after checking out took the pop from one of the displays near the entrance doors and put it on top of his cart.
Of course he denied it on air and said the truth will come out in court. He also said he didn’t have representation yet.
One of my area grocery stores now has a laser/scanner (not sure what you really want to call it) about four inches from the ground in the register lane. If you move your cart past this thing and there is an item on your cart bottom that wasn’t placed on the belt, an alarm goes off. Can’t possibly forget anything now!
Ok give us the Name of this Store or store chain. I think it shows BAD taste that they HIRED this IDIOT COP.
Time to inform shoppers to AVOID this place. See if a loss in profit will get their attention.
@ClayS: Recently, my friends found a giant thing of toilet paper under and abandoned cart, and showed up at my door with it because they didn’t need any. It was great, but I felt a little bad in case someone might’ve come back for it.
Man shoplifts, gets caught. What’s the story? Even if we assume it was a mistake (and on that we just have his word), it’s still an illegal act.
@cde: according to the article, it was a self-checkout line. but every self-checkout line i’ve seen is express (10 or 15 items or less). so i don’t know how he rang up 2 carts worth in the self-checkout line.
I am the wife of Tom who was accused of petty theft after forgetting that he left a case of pepsi under the cart.
My husband will have to go to court on May 1st for face the charge of petty theft.
I can honestly say that this was a mistake and that he indeed did forget the pepsi under his cart.
There were 2 carts full of groceries, it was my birthday and he wanted to get back home to finish celebrating it with me. The only reason I sent him to the store was because he had purchased a “Magic Bulet” for me as a gift and I sent him to the store to get items listed in the recipe book so we could try it out.
He has been a loyal customer of Giant Eagle for years…most of my family has too. He also worked for Giant Eagle for 18 yrs…just not that one. He did various jobs like stocking shelves, floor man, and supervising those self scanning checkouts.
There was no employee there to supervise the self scanners, which is why my husband and son were taken in the back room. The officer asked her what she wanted to do…she said have him arrested and banned from all Giant Eagles. This is after he paid $157.20!
He does have a lot on his plate…I am disabled and so our 2 of my kids which is why he does the shopping. He used the self scanner to be able to get done quicker and return home to his family but instead he was arrested.
He did not exit the store. They took him from the lobby to the back room of the store where he was placed under arrest, not read his rights, placed in handcuffs like a common criminal, and walked through the store to a police car. He did not put up a fight, offered to pay once he realized he forgot to scan it. This could have been solved by a simple reminder!
As far as what happened to the groceries…a lot of them were ruined because it was a warm night and a lot of items on the list were perishable.
We are not sue happy people but do intend to seek some kind of compensation for the whole ordeal.
Like most people we live from paycheck to paycheck and lawyers are expensive. We are currently in search of a lawyer to represent him not only in this court case but to sue both Giant Eagle and the police dept. One that is willing to wait for their money until the case is resolved.
Giant Eagle nor the Brooklyn police dept can be reached for comment is what we have been told when this story was aired.
This is the first time my husband has ever been in trouble.
Right now we are worried that this nonsense will cost him his job because even if it is thrown out of court, it will remain on his reocrd
One store I worked for trained us to turn a shoplight into a sale. Once you point out the unpaid item, the majority of people will turn around and just purchase it. We treated that as a success.
umm… I think an its key that comsumerist makes an effort to IDENTIFY THE STORE at which this took place.
Its kinda the difference between entertainment media and the overall objectives and service this site provides.
Right? If I lived in brooklyn I’d be like “well thanks for nothing”
[popvssoda.com:2998]
Pop Versus Soda
@plim A Giant Grocery store in Maryland (I live in LA now) had about 6 or so self check out lines. They weren’t express. They’d rather pay one person to oversee them than 6 cashiers.
Crappy thing is, your light stuff would always screw the thing up and you’d need to wait for assistance. Such a hassle.
is it legal for an off duty cop to arrest someone while they are working a second job?
@Buran: No, I didnt actually. My spelling was correct.
But thanks for trying to clear that whole situation up. I mean, an extra “e” in the word absolutely would have totally confused everyone and ruin this whole thread. I mean, if no one goes around correcting everyones spelling on blogs, what would this world become? I’m glad you took the time to try to correct my spelling on this blog(which was correct already).
@AlteredBeast:
Lol! In Canada it’s ‘pop’. ‘Soda’ is soda water here. I think in the U.S. mid-West (Chicago, etc) they say pop as well.
Either way: $4 for a case of it? Must have been on sale.
It can be Pop or Soda:
[popvssoda.com:2998]
yeah i’d sure like to boycott this store, if only we knew which store it was.
Thank god we have those cops putting our hard-earned tax dollars at work to protect us!
Seriously, couldn’t he give $5 and call it even? Friggin stupid…
@lawstud:
Like my response, only a lot shorter! And without the “police state” argument. (I’ll consider that a “political question”.)
@FreemanB:
Actually, Giant Eagles in Ohio has some of the easiest to use self-check lanes I’ve ever seen. It’s a full length conveyer belt and the items are scanned as the belt moves. No messing with weight or tiny packing areas. You pack your bags after paying.
This sort of thing happens all of the time and all the DA is going to do is offer the guy a plea to disorderly conduct, a violation, and be done with it. They don’t care to do the right thing because they want the conviction and the chagre that he’ll plea to will never appear on his record.
As for the store, I bet they just lost a lot of customers over this. Imbeciles.
@Pylon83:
Huh? Like there is’nt some attorney who will work the case pro bono? Don’t tell me you would stand for being ARRESTED by an off duty cop. Just because you don’t like my comment does’nt mean you have to find some point on which to disagree with. *rolls eyes*
About 3 years ago, I bought a very large Rubbermaid storage container from Wal-Mart, paid, went home. It was then that I realized that I actually had two storage containers, one stuck inside the other. Neither I nor the cashier noticed apparently. I really wanted to take it back to Wal-Mart and either just give them back their merchandise or pay for the 2nd tote but a friend of mine advised me against it, because he worked there and thought it likely that I’d be arrested even though I was trying to be honest. So I didn’t. I still feel enormously guilty about it to this day, but this story just sort of makes me believe that my friend was right. Eventually I used the tote to donate a bunch of stuff to Goodwill and I gave them the tote which has allowed my guilt to subside somewhat. I still feel really awful about it though.
So, it turns out the guy checked out with no Pepsi in his cart, paid, then went to the Pepsi display and loaded $24 worth of Pepsi into his cart and attempted to walk out of the store. The store caught it all on tape.
[www.boston.com]
Ohio Police Say Man Leaving Store with Pepsi was no Accident
Posted: April 10, 2008 09:10 AM EDT
BROOKLYN, Ohio (AP) – Police say a security tape supports their claim: this Pepsi theft was no accident.
Fifty-year-old Thomas Sturgis of Cleveland paid $157.20 for groceries Saturday night at Giant Eagle when he forgot about a $4 case of soda under the cart and was arrested for petty theft.
But Brooklyn Chief Mark Tenaglia says that security video shows Sturgis using a self-checkout with no items on the bottom of his cart.
Tenaglia says a second video camera shows Sturgis loading six 12-packs of Pepsi into his cart before he exited the store. The total value of the soda was $21.54 with tax.
Sturgis declined to comment yesterday.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)