"Officers: Wal-Mart Guard Slammed Woman To Floor" [WYFF4.com] (Thanks to Jeff!)

“Humiliating is not the word for it,” Gipson told KHOU news. “I was horrified. I think they singled me out because of the amount of money that it was and (thought) I was trying to get over on them.”

Nothing she did convinced the Wal-Mart manager to drop the charges. Finally, after 48 hours behind bars, the District Attorney's office released her after she provided the purchase receipts. You might think that was the end of Ms. Gipson's ordeal. Nope.

From KHOU:

Gipson said Wal-Mart then added insult to injury when she got a letter in the mail.

“I started to read it and thought, ‘Oh my God.’ They are asking me to pay them when it was clearly their mistake,” said Gipson.

The letter demanded Gipson pay Wal-Mart $200 to settle a shoplifting charge. It is a charge that never existed, though.

KHOU says that they contacted Wal-Mart and were told that the decision to press charges was up to the law enforcement officer at the scene. KHOU also notes that the copy of criminal complaint they obtained shows that the store manager is the one who pressed charges.

TSU student jailed on bogus Wal-Mart forgery charge [KHOU](Thanks, nick!)

So, my wife & I stopped in at Wal-Mart to get a few things. I didn't have long before I had to be at work, but we had enough time to do our shopping. So we get what we need, pay at one of their express lanes, and then went to leave the store. It's at about this point that we notice a line of several carts waiting for the people greeter to search through their bags and check their receipts.

Since I didn't have a lot of time to waste, I simply went around the line and started out the door. At this point the people greeter told me I had to stop and allow her to go through everything I just purchased. I politely told her that she did not in fact need to search my property, and that they lost any right to go through the items in my cart when I paid for them. I proceeded to walk out of the store.

While I was transferring everything from the cart into the car, several Wal-Mart asset protection employees approached me, and asked to see my receipt. I told them no, at which point they stated that the merchandise was stolen. I told them I paid for everything, but did not have any more time to waste with them. I started to back out of the parking spot, when one of them tried to walk behind my car, I told him to move out of the way, that I didn't want to hit him. He said he was getting the license plate, so I waited a few seconds for him to write it down, then proceeded to back up. Another one of their employees called the local police department. I also called to give them my contact information, and let them know what happened.

Then I called the store manager to make a complaint about the way I was treated. He stated that they had just started a policy to check receipts for any unbagged items. I explained that they were going through every bag in every customer's cart, and that the delay this created was unacceptable. He said he had not heard anything from his staff, but he would follow up with them to find out what was going on. I gave him my name and phone number, and he said he would follow up with me. I have not heard anything yet.

About thirty minutes later my wife received a call from an officer of the local police department. He asked for our side of things, and then said he would smooth things over. While I understand that most people would just show the receipt and let them poke through your things, there really is no reason to do so. If you were any where else, and someone accused you of being a thief, and then asked you to let them search through your things to prove your not, would you allow it? I wouldn't, in fact my reaction would be to leave, quickly. Thats what I did in this case, and thats what I plan to do in the future. If enough people were willing to stand up for their rights, this would stop happening.

Other readers have had luck referring their complaints about overzealous receipt checking to the executives at Wal-Mart. Here's some instructions on how to craft an EECB to lauch on Wal-Mart, as well as some contact information.
(Photo: Jeff Holbrook )

From the San Jose Mercury News:

The giant fencing organizations came tumbling down Wednesday when a joint task force arrested 17 people, including 11 in San Jose, on charges of federal money laundering and interstate transportation of stolen goods. They confiscated six semi-trucks loaded with $5.5 million in stolen property and - along with pallets of Tylenol and Oil of Olay - seized $140,000 in cash, gold bars, Mercedeses and diamonds.

The investigation was titled "Operation Norcal Shortdate," referring to Northern California and the slang for a product about to expire. Officials said the busts had brought down major local players in the $30 billion black market in stolen retail merchandise.

"This wasn't where they were ripping off product and selling it from the back of a truck on some street corner, these were very organized operations," said San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis.

Aside from driving up the cost of goods for consumers, these bandits sold products which may have become unsafe by improper storage.

The hordes of "booster" thieves are not directly related to the crime organizations. They are independent bandits who hit store after store on a routine basis, stealing a variety of products from Safeway, Target, Walgreen's, Longs Drugs and Savemart. They might stealthily stuff handfuls of Claritin into their clothes or boldly make off with shopping carts full of items without paying.

They would contact the Vo and Le organizations to "fence" the merchandise, receiving 25 cents on the dollar. The families were not cooperating but acted as "friendly competitors," according to officers John Barg and Doug Gerbrandt, the lead case agents.

"We were impressed with their sophistication," Barg said. "They treated this trade as if it were a real job and they worked pretty hard at it and at concealing what they were doing. They were smart, but not enough to outsmart us."

The Vo organization worked their operation out of two San Jose storefronts - JV Tool and Wholesale on Senter Road and on Old Bayshore Highway.

On the surface the businesses were tool shops. But in the back, there were giant warehouses of locally stolen merchandise, repackaged and organized, ready to be shipped.

The organization would regularly ship out four to six pallets of stolen products a month to various locations in Utah, Florida and New York. Police estimated that each pallet is worth approximately $120,000 in retail value.

San Jose police bust huge criminal retailing rings [SJMN]

Babcock seems like a nice guy, and we hope he finds a more suitable job soon. We also hope that when Babcock was on the force, his partner's name was Goobcock, because that would make any reasonable criminal have a good laugh.

*Claim might be slightly exaggerated.

"Target Security Guard Fired After Stopping Shoplifter" [Fox 6 Milwaukee] (Video) (Thanks to Nicholas!)

Our question: can security personnel really arrest suspected shoplifters?

Go easy on the fat insults, y'all. The guy's dead.

"Dead shoplifter identified" [MercuryNews]
"Coroner ID's Suspect Who Collapsed At E. Bay Mall" [CBS5.com]
(Photo: Gato Azul)

Yesterday (2-28-08) late afternoon I bought a $25 shower rack at the Wal-mart in [redacted] New Hampshire, and then tucked the receipt safely inside my wallet so I wouldn't lose it in case I had to return the item. The cashier did not bag the shower rack, so after I was done at the register I picked up my item and headed for the door. As I was approaching the door, the receipt checker Bob said, "Do you have your receipt?" To which I responded, "Yes, it's in my wallet" and I kept walking towards the door. Behind me, I could hear him yell "Sir! Sir! I need to see your receipt!", but being an avid Consumerist reader, I knew I didn't need to stop, so I kept walking. Bob ran up in front of me and stood between the slider doors, blocking my exit and budging me back inside. Appalled that the Wal-mart employee had just touched me, I said "excuse me", but Bob refused to budge, demanding again to see my receipt. I attempted to walk around him, but he kept stepping in front of me, and I would bounce off of him. Now, I was bigger than Bob, but I didn't wish to get physical and blow the situation out of proportion.

At this point however, a random male customer came to Bob's assistance blocking the exit and pushing me back inside. The customer, who was bigger than me, told me to show Bob my receipt. When I refused, the customer responded with "Maybe I'm a cop". So now I have Wal-mart employee Bob and a customer impersonating a police officer physically blocking my exit and budging me back inside when I try to press by them. I was scared. I repeatedly asked the two of them if I was free to go, to which Bob said, "No, you need to show me your receipt." At this point a female employee shows up (I think her name was Cindy) and joins in telling me that I need to show my receipt. The police officer-impersonating customer disappears at this point, but Bob is still physically rebuffing my attempts to exit.

I argue with the female employee for a while, getting nowhere, but for some reason Bob FINALLY stops pushing me back when I try to walk past him, and at this point I consider my illegal detainment to have ended. As I am outside the store and about to walk away, the female employee says something to the extent of "Fine, we'll just write down your license plate number and tell the police you were shoplifting!"

Now, due to the nature of my work, I cannot get in trouble with the police, and any arrest, regardless of my guilt, could cost me my job. So at this point, I responded to her with "Are you kidding!!?? You're going to lie to the police?" She shrugged, and walked back inside. I followed her, demanding to know what her name was, and although she didn't tell me, I think her nametag said "Cindy".

Currently standing back inside Wal-mart near the exit, I whipped out my cell phone and called 1-800-Walmart, and reported what just happened to someone at corporate. At this point there was a lot of onlookers because of the commotion, and I was extremely embarrassed. Anyways, I pulled out my receipt in order to read the person at corporate the store number, and I could see the look of surprise on the other employees' faces. The corporate phone jockey took my name, number, and said someone would get back to me. After I hung up, I switched my phone to camera mode, looked at Bob who was still standing a few feet away from me, said "Smile, Bob", and snapped his picture (attached).

At this point, General Manager David arrived on the scene, and told me that I can't take pictures of his employees, that it's a violation of their privacy (Hah!). I explained to David what just went down, and how it was not acceptable for his employees to lay their hands on me and to threaten me with making a false police report. I was actually surprised with the following discussion I had with David, who was nothing but professional and sympathetic. He understood how completely wrong his employees were, claimed that he'd review the security cameras (yeah right), and that his employees definitely needed some "retraining". I thanked David for understanding, shook his hand, and went home.

I'm still waiting for the call from corporate. Wal-mart needs to understand just how much is at stake when their employees illegally detain customers. Their employees are literally putting their lives on the line. What happens when a customer is carrying for self-defense and fears for his life when a Wal-mart employee illegally detains him? Is it really worth it, Wal-mart?

I'm considering making a police report about the situation, but I'm not sure I want Bob arrested. Sure, I think that what he did was criminal, but he was just a below-average-intelligence, under-paid, and under-trained employee trying to do his job. Should I make the report?

Bob probably will not be arrested if you file a police report about the incident. If you were thinking of filing a lawsuit against Walmart for their behavior, you'd need to file one to use as evidence, but you didn't mention that in your letter.

A formal complaint to Walmart is appropriate. If you file a police report, include it with your complaint. These employees obviously had no idea that what they were doing was wrong and are in need of some guidance. We're surprised to hear a story like this from New Hampshire. Aren't you guys supposed to be all "Live Free or Die?" Did the Walmart employees not get that memo?

From the WSJ:

After Miami handyman Glenn Rudge was accused of shoplifting an $8 set of drill bits at Home Depot, he thought he'd settled the matter when he showed his receipt to prosecutors and they dropped the charge.

But a few weeks later, a law firm hired by Home Depot began sending him letters demanding first $3,000, then a total of $6,000, implying he'd be sued if he didn't pay it.

In an escalating battle against theft, retailers are going after anyone suspected of shoplifting, turning over their names to lawyers and collection firms, who pursue the suspects for stiff penalties and split the take with the retailer."

The WSJ says this process is a result of laws passed in all 50 states that were intended to help retailers cover the cost of securing their stores, but the way the laws were written has resulted in some strange behavior by retailers.

Lord & Taylor, for instance, never follows up civil-demand letters by suing suspected shoplifters, its loss-prevention manager said in deposition about a year ago, citing the cost of going to court. Lord & Taylor collected about $1 million in civil recovery from suspected shoplifters in a recent year, up from $850,000 the year before, the official testified.
The chain's letters to suspected shoplifters are sent out by a Florida law firm called Palmer Reifler & Associates, which also handles the task for four dozen other clients, from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to Walgreen Co., keeping 13% to 30% of what it collects. A partner at the law firm has said that it sends out about 1.2 million civil-recovery demand letters a year but follows up by suing fewer than 10 times a year.

After he kept insisting he was innocent, the guard handcuffed him, walked him to an interrogation room in back and took the drill bits. Mr. Rudge asked to call home to have his wife bring in the receipt but the store wouldn't let him, he said in a 2003 suit in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, since settled. Home Depot declined to discuss specifics of his account.

Prosecutors charged the handyman with shoplifting, then dropped the charge in February 2003 when he showed them a receipt for the drill bits. But about a month later, according to his suit, he got a letter from the Palmer Reifler law firm demanding he pay a little over $3,000 within 20 days.

He ignored the demand. Then he got a letter demanding an additional $3,000, as "pre-litigation" attorney's fees, for a total of just over $6,000. If he didn't pay, one letter said, the sheriff's office would be called to notify him if a lawsuit was filed.

Mr. Rudge was doing some handyman work for a lawyer and showed her the letters. "I took one look and said, 'This is outrageous,' " says the lawyer, Alison Harke. "These letters are designed to make people settle because they believe they are going to jail." She filed a suit against the retailer, the settlement of which is confidential.

Big Retail Chains Dun Mere Suspects in Theft [Wall Street Journal](Thanks, Joseph !)
(Photo:Maulleigh)

Bozman, of Elyrai, lit the rack of lingerie on fire, but security cameras caught her red-handed, a police report said.

[...]

Security cameras caught Bozman fidgeting with the inside of her jacket as she wandered through the shoe department. No one was near her in the lingerie section when the rack went up in flames, the police report said.

Elyria fire Lt. David Street said store employees grabbed fire extinguishers and put out the flames. No one was hurt, but the store was evacuated and closed for more than an hour while the ventilation system cleared away smoke that hung over the aisles.

Lingerie sizzling — literally [The Plain Dealer]

The man's injuries were not life-threatening, and he was taken to the hospital and treated. He's expected to face a misdemeanor shoplifting charge, police told the Grand Rapids Press.

"The man was taken to the hospital," said Meijer spokesman Frank Giuliano. "We are cooperating with the investigation by police."

Police said the suspect has a record of retail fraud.

"I saw a man laying down on the mat by the carts, a knife by him with blood on the full blade of the knife," shopper Heather Dodd said. "It was not a dull kitchen knife or a sharp butcher's knife. It was somewhere in between.

"Someone was holding him down, so I just walked around him, grabbed my cart, made sure everything was OK and got out of the way."

Alleged shoplifter falls on knives [MLive] (Thanks, s!)
(Photo:meghannmarco)

Gastonia Man in Jail for Stolen Steak [WBTV] (Thanks To Chris)

The deputy told a manager that the suspect had taken about 10 of the "raspberry-flavored" candies. The man denied taking more than two. He added that he'd been shopping at Albertson's for 30 years and that he was just trying the candy to see if he wanted to buy it. The deputy "advised him that Albertson's did not have free samples of candy and he should have known that if he had been shopping at Albertson's for 30 years."

The man didn't buy any of the candy.

The store manager on duty told the deputy that he wanted charges brought against the suspect, who was also issued a trespass warning.

Man arrested for eating jelly beans in store [Northwest Florida Daily News]
(Photo: SMN)

The main issue is how much (or little) online retailers cooperate with loss-prevention investigators at brick and mortar stores. Currently, they don't: they provide information on sellers to law enforcement authorities, but not to corporate investigators.

"We need to take a new approach," said Brad Brekke, vice president for assets protection at Target Corp. "Internet auction sites could make simple changes, making high-volume sellers identify themselves and provide unique product identities."

Robert Chesnut, senior vice president of rules, trust and safety at eBay Inc, said it was reasonable "to think about what we could do about high-volume sellers." But he said sellers are generally nervous about posting their names, addresses and telephone numbers on product listings.

After his items were placed in a Home Depot bag, he says he was stopped by the manager and accused of shoplifting the items.

From the Madison County Record:

"The manager alleged that the plaintiff stole the items he purchased for $19.12," the complaint states.

Marshall alleges the Edwardsville Police were called to the scene to investigate the allegations he shoplifted and throughout the investigation he was able to produce the receipt for the items that were alleged to be stolen.

He claims that the false allegations of theft to the Edwardsville Police caused him to suffer mental anguish, emotional distress and a loss of earning.

Represented by Brian Polinske of Edwardsville, Marshall is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus costs of the suit.

Home Depot customer claims he was falsely accused of shoplifting [Madison County Record]
(Photo:kilgore)

After another customer alerted Smith to the potential shoplifter, she began checking receipts at the exit. When the suspect came out of the in-store McDonald's and headed for the exit, Smith intercepted her and pointed out that the receipt didn't match what was in the cart. The suspect ran out of the store, then had a change of heart and came back in:

Then the irate shopper rushed back into Wal-Mart, screaming at Smith and wielding a Mickey D's cup of soda, police said. They say she smashed the drink over Smith's shoulder and landed a hard hook to her cheek. Police said she slugged another associate in the eye, spit in the face of a loss-prevention employee and pummeled another manager who grabbed her shopping cart. No one was seriously injured.

Surely there's more to the story than what the article is reporting, but even if you have a no-touching-customers rule, shouldn't allowances be made for self defense?

"Woman fired after stopping robbery" [Times Herald-Record] (Thanks to Jean!)
(Photo: Getty)

Circuit City shopper, city of Brooklyn resolve dispute over arrest [The Plain Dealer]
Success [Michael Righi]
PREVIOUSLY: Circuit City Customer Arrested After Refusing To Show Receipt

Catherine Anne Delgado, 35, had "chocolate smeared on her arms and shirt, and there was so much unwrapped chocolate in her purse that it was spilling out onto a hotel sofa." Delgado had apparently tried to flush the bricks of fudge down a hotel toilet, which, according to the police report posted on The Smoking Gun, "stopped up the toilet."

In addition to the fudge she had also stolen 5 M&M pretzel sticks. Half-eaten cookies were found at the scene of the crime. Someone call Encyclopedia Brown, there may be more to this case than meets the eye...

Fudge Packer Popped [The Smoking Gun via DListed]
(Photo:Annapolis Police Department)

Cherry paid $113 in goods but had a total of $400 worth of stolen merchandise sitting in her cart, police said. Cherry was stopped while a male companion accompanying her bolted out the door, according to reports.

Woman Banned For Life From Wal-Mart [Local6.com]

Walmart denies that the change is in response to increasing theft. We assume that is because Walmart denies everything, no matter what. They say they are "responding to suggestions from stores" Ok, have it your way.

Also, if you are caught shoplifting at Walmart they will now only wait 60 minutes for your parents to show up before they call the police. It remains Walmart's policy not to prosecute anyone stealing less than $25 worth of merchandise.

Wal-Mart toughens theft policy [Seattle P-I]
(Photo:Crawfishpie)

What's the reason for the increased shrink? It could be tied to Walmart's decision not to prosecute shoplifters who steal less than $25 worth of merchandise. Another possibility is that Walmart is understaffed, making it easy for organized shoplifters to rip them off. —MEGHANN MARCO

Shoplifting, employee theft plague Wal-Mart [Toronto Star]
(Photo: Clean Walmart)

"We saw them with the merchandise. We saw them run out of the store. I never kept my eyes off of them. Then when we asked them for a receipt, and that's when they dropped the merchandise and they kept running. One guy still had a chainsaw while he was running, and that's when the cops tackled him," he said.

The letter said Stewart and the others were fired because "he pursued and assisted in the apprehension of suspected shoplifters."

Stewart said all he did was call police, something he's done before. Less than eight months ago, he said that he received a letter — a commendation letter — for helping police catch a thief trying to steal $2,500 worth of wire.

On the top of the letter, written in bold letters was "Great job, Bob."

Man Says Home Depot Fired Workers For Catching Thieves [KOCO]
(Photo: jclarson)

Robertson said the attorney said WalMart was afraid "that people might try to run [the shoplifters] down or throw something at them.''

Wal-Mart: No shoplifters, even the kind with signs [AP]
PREVIOUSLY: Judge Orders Shoplifters To Wear Signs Reading "I Am A Thief I Stole From Walmart"
(Photo: Dave Hyatt, The Gadsden Times via AP and USA Today)

Meat's dubious triumph is due in part to a law enforcement crackdown on methamphetamine use. Meat used to be the shoplifting runner-up to health-and-beauty-care items, a category that includes cough medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in home-cooked meth. In 2003, for example, a quarter of shoplifted products were HBCs, while meat took second place at 16 percent. But states began passing laws that require stores to move medicines containing pseudoephedrine behind secure counters. That was enough to cut the pinching of HBCs, which fell by 11 percent between 2003 and 2005.

The Purloined Sirloin [Slate]

Anyway, supposedly the decline in theft of health and beauty items reflects increased security on products containing pseudoephedrine. Also of note was a statistic about "self check out" lanes. Of the stores that installed said check out lanes, "63.6 percent reported no increase in theft rates." Which, as Dubner points out, means that 36.4 percent did. —MEGHANN MARCO

Stealing in Supermarkets [Freakonomics Blog]

If the retailer has a reasonable suspicion you're shoplifting, however, they can detain you at will. — BEN POPKEN

Bag check at store exit makes shoppers see red [NY Daily News] (Thanks to David!)

Previously: Do I Have To Let Stores Check My Receipt?

"Can one legally bypass the whole receipt-checking- process once you've made your purchase at a store? Can you just say 'no thank you' to the guy checking off your receipt as you exit the door and mosey back to your warm, cozy pickup truck? Once you have completed your transaction at a store, do they have any legal right to keep you in the store?"

Aside from membership-based stores like Sam's/Costco where you may have agreed to a search in your contract, the answer, it seems, varies by state. However, it's safe to say that unless you've met your state's definition of probable cause for shoplifting... a retailer has absolutely no right to detain you.

Let's look at New Jersey's definition inside.

Presumptions. Any person purposely concealing unpurchased merchandise of any store or other retail mercantile establishment, either on the premises or outside the premises of such store or other retail mercantile establishment, shall be prima facie presumed to have so concealed such merchandise with the intention of depriving the merchant of the possession, use or benefit of such merchandise without paying the full retail value thereof, and the finding of such merchandise concealed upon the person or among the belongings of such person shall be prima facie evidence of purposeful concealment; and if such person conceals, or causes to be concealed, such merchandise upon the person or among the belongings of another, the finding of the same shall also be prima facie evidence of willful concealment on the part of the person so concealing such merchandise.

To us (not legal experts), that reads "If they see you concealing something, you are in trouble." You'll note however that it says "unpurchased merchandise." If you've purchased the merchandise, it's likely that you're not covered under New Jersey's definition of probable cause for shoplifting. Therefor, a Best Buy would have a hard time justifying detaining you. If this means a lot to you personally, you could try printing your state's shoplifting statute and presenting that rather than a receipt. We suggest simply refusing to shop at stores with the offending policy. —MEGHANN MARCO

We've all had this happen to us, as we take a pair of industrial shears to a new purchase's impervious plastic. Occasionally, we wander away with gore spurting from a few newly crafted finger stubs. But more often, we end up just cutting the documentation inside into confetti.

God knows, customer satisfaction comes after concerns about shoplifting. What's a few fingers compared to saving a gigantic retail hegemony a few lost bucks? But could you package designers please consider incorporating a dotted line on the package, indicating exactly where the instructions are inside so we can cut around them?

Broken: GE remote control packaging [This is Broken]

One of the reasons they greet you might be to stop you from stealing. But it turns out you can prevent shoplifting and not puncture your customer's personal bubble: just paste eerie cardboard eyes all around the store.

A researcher at Newcastle University discovered that by pasting a pair of accusing eyes on the communal teachers' lounge coffee pot, contributions to the 'honesty box' were three times higher than normal.

The effect may arise from behavioural traits that developed as early humans formed social groups that bolstered their chances of survival. For social groups to work individuals had to co-operate for the good of the group, rather than act selfishly. "There's an argument that if nobody is watching us it is in our interests to behave selfishly. But when we think we're being watched we should behave better, so people see us as co-operative and behave the same way towards us," Dr Bateson said.

Replacing Wal-Mart greeters with stern cardboard cut-outs? Sounds great to me, but then, how are they going to pressure us with their sales pitch? Cardboard word bubbles?

The eyes have it for making people behave more honestly [Guardian]

More often than not, the only thing you shear in half with those box cutters you employ when trying to open the blister packaging encasing your latest piece of cool swag like a translucent block of carbonite is your motherfucking hand.

Why do they make bubble packaging so hard to open? Pretty obviously, it's there to thwart shoplifters, whom are often not packing the chainsaw within their baggy overcoats necessary to actually open one of the things up. Wired's article on the subject of blister packing examines the culture of insurance that has given rise not only to numerous emergency ward visits but to one of consumerists' biggest pet peeves as well.

Tales from packaging hell [Wired]

It's unfortunate that they decided to blur out her face, we've always wondered what a stomach dropping to the bottom of one's toes looked like.

Can anyone translate what the sign on the door at the end says?

(Thanks to Tim!)

Patricia Johnson bought some clothing for her terminally ill son, who later died. As she exited, she stopped at a shirt table, pulled out a pair of shorts from the bag of clothes, trying to see if they would match the shirt. Deciding no, she put the tagged shorts back in her bag and left.

Thereafter, she walked to her car and two plainclothes detectives intercepted her. Jackson tried to show her receipt but the detectives refused to see it and told her to follow them to the detention center.

Stories of women abducted and killed in the same parking lot flashed through Jackson's mind. She refused. She wanted to call the police on her cell phone. The detectives said no, took her cell phone, handcuffed her and brough her inside. In the detention cetner she was patted down and handcuffed to a metal bar. Jackson began crying, askeing to call the police or her husband. She was not allowed either. A detective read her a statement saying she was guilty of shoplifting and banned from Macy's.

She held for 15 more minutes until the detectives matched her receipt with the items in her bag. Jackson was released. The manager said she could receive a discount on the clothes she bought.

Patricia instead opted to sue the store and was awarded $1.2 million in a settlement reached last Thursday. The grandmother is said to be so traumatized by the incident that she won't go shopping by herself.

Read more: "Jury awards woman $1.2M" [Ledger-Enquirer] (Thanks to Bard!)

And speaking of illegal, I haven't even mentioned their acts of false arrest every time I try to leave the store. They try to FORCE everyone to stop and have their receipts & carts checked before they leave the store. I cannot tell you how much this bothers me. Once I pay for my merchandise, it is MINE - I own it! If they want to check my cart or my receipt, they need probably cause to detain me - otherwise it is illegal search & seizure. They want me to wait in one line for 30 minutes to check out, and then wait another 5 minutes to have some lackey check my receipt? FORGET IT! I have complained about this repeatedly to the store manager. They claim it is to make sure that I haven't been "over-charged" for anything. But after some argument, they admit it is used to keep tabs on their employees, and make sure that the checkers are actually scanning all items. Is that my problem? Nope! And I refuse to be have my civil rights violated because they don't trust their employees.

From The Smoking Gun's favorite mug shots of the year.

1. There are special bags called 'boosters' that are lined with a material that prevents security sensors from being activated by stolen goods—at least according to the police in the NBC-2 News article.

2. If one is to shoplift using a booster, do not do it near a couple of young buck marines, because they will run you down.

Beltran made it past two Lee County deputies and mall security. But as he crossed U.S. 41, he met his match.
"We saw officers chasing him so we took off after the guy because the officer was far behind," said Private Ryan Pitts of the U.S. Marine Corps.

That means that even if the daughter had been shoplifting, Urban Outfitters would rather extort her for money down the line than report her to the police. It also means that there is more to this story than just a single, centipede-filled manager. How many others have Urban Outfitters employees duped into signing up for a $150, out-of-process fine?

This is the paragraph where we are supposed to insult Urban Outfitters' clothing selection, but we actually don't mind their selection, even if it does look like a bus full of hobos exploded inside the Gap. (Thanks, Jay!)

Rip Unravels Family's Shopping Trip [WaPo]

Do you let retail security people check your bags? What about the whole 'sign off on your receipt' thing? And, most importantly, does a person have to submit to those checks?

If one were to get even more stupid cheap, Ichiku's Barcode Magic can be used to generate your own custom pricing labels for whatever price you choose. Since most barcodes use a uniform system, it isn't that difficult to make something expensive—say, an iPod—cost just a five-spot.

Of course, if you choose to use the $25 Barcode Magic to fleece a retailer, you may find yourself in the same cell as young Jonathan Baldino, who is now facing felony charges of forgery for attempting the very same maneuver in a Boulder-area Target.