Three decades later, I still have a very vivid memory of the day I learned about shoplifting. My mom was in the checkout line at Acme and I was eye-level with the candy rack and oh man did that Rolo look tasty. So I took it, because that’s what I thought you did. I was wrong and was told so by my horrified mother when I offered her some chocolate a few minutes later. She took me back in, paid for the Rolo and explained to me about shoplifting. I’m just lucky I didn’t pilfer that treat from the Safeway in Everett, Washington. [More]
shoplifting
GameStop Employee Sues For Time Spent Being Checked For Stolen Games
By 11.23.11
Considering that so much of the retail theft that occurs each year is a result of sticky-fingered employees, some stores like GameStop have apparently instituted policies that require staffers to be checked for pilfered product when they go to take a break during the workday. But one employee at the video game chain says these breaks cut into the amount of time allotted for mandatory lunch and rest breaks — and he’s suing to get paid for that time. [More]
Child Seized After Fainting Mother Forgot To Pay For Sandwich
By 10.31.11
A Hawaii couple was tossed in jail and their child taken by protective services for 18 hours after the mother forgot to pay for her sandwich at Safeway. [More]
The Most Shoplifted Food In The World? That's Right, "Cheese."
By 10.26.11
The First WorldWide Shrinkage Survey is not about taking a scientific approach to a Seinfeld plot line. Instead, it measures shoplifting around the globe. “Shrinkage,” in retail parlance, is when people take things from stores without paying for them. And according to their study, the most shoplifted item in the world in 2011 was cheese. [More]
If You're Going To Shoplift At Walmart With Your Kids, Don't Leave Them Behind When You Flee
By 10.14.11
Kids are adorable and we suppose they could make adorable decoys if one was trying to shoplift at Walmart. But if you’re going to involve small children in your criminal activities, it’s probably not a great idea to leave them behind. [More]
Shoplifter Sentenced To Life In Prison After Walmart Worker Dies
By 9.16.11
Last June, while attempting to heist a $348 TV from a Texas Walmart, a shoplifter knocked over a Walmart staffer, sending him to the hospital where he would die nine days later. Now that shoplifter has been sentenced to life in prison, even though he was never charged with the worker’s death and the medical examiner determined the actual cause of death was end-stage liver cirrhosis. [More]
Walmart Shopper Sacrifices Minivan To Stop Shoplifters From Fleeing
By 8.24.11
A customer at a Florida Walmart was one of several people who spotted two women run out the store’s front door with a cart full of allegedly stolen merchandise. And when he saw this pair try to escape in a car, he decided it was time to intervene. [More]
Lawsuit: Walmart Had Me Arrested, Made Me Lose Job, Had Husband Deported… Over $2.90 Worth Of Chicken Necks
By 7.26.11
A former Walmart employee in Alabama has filed a lawsuit against the retail behemoth, alleging that she and her husband were wrongly accused of stealing $2.90 in chicken neck bones, an accusation the plaintiff says led to her losing her job and having her husband deported. [More]
Why The Rich Shoplift More Than The Poor
By 7.7.11
The biggest shoplifters aren’t who you think they are. A study found that Americans with incomes over $70,000 were 30% more likely to shoplift than those making up to $20,000. Why? Because they feel they deserve it more. [More]
Increase In Shoplifting May Be Sign Of Economic Recovery
By 6.27.11
While one might initially expect an increase in shoplifting to be a sign that more people are facing dire financial straits, there are those who believe the recent uptick in retail theft could actually be a hint that the economy is improving. [More]
Alleged Walmart Shoplifter Goes On Violent Rampage After Being Asked For Receipt
By 5.27.11
This is a textbook example of how not to behave when asked for your receipt at a store’s exit. According to the Bradenton, Florida police, a 22-year-old woman tried to leave a Walmart with 43 items she hadn’t paid for, worth a total of $211. When asked for her receipt, she went on a destructive rampage, causing more than $1,000 worth of damage to merchandise. She also punched and spat on store employees, and hit a manager with a bar stool from inside her cart. Police officers discovered marijuana in her purse, and she has been charged with, among other things, aggravated assault and battery. [More]
Thief Took Shoplifting Orders Via Text Message, Stuffed Shoes In Pants
By 5.24.11
After a suspect shoplifter was arrested, police seized his cellphone and made a startling discovery, FOX 41 reports. Reviewing the entries on the phone, the found orders and special requests from people, who sent him shoplifting selections via text message. However, his method of secreting the merchandise was decidedly lo-tech: he was caught allegedly stuffing shoes down his pants and trying to walk out of the store without paying. [More]
Elderly Walmart Greeter Killed In Shoplifting Chase
By 5.23.11
A 71-year-old North Carolina Walmart greeter was killed when she found herself in the wrong place during a stampede involving the chase of an alleged shoplifter. [More]
Video: Shoplifters Smuggle Booze Between Legs
By 5.10.11
These three women put on a clinic of how not to shoplift from a liquor aisle. Spurning the tradition of trenchcoats or other types of baggy clothing, they manage to slip bottles of liquor underneath their skirts. They’re not as sneaky as they think they are because the store’s security camera captures them in mesmerizing action. [More]
Should Best Buy Have Fired Employee For Chasing Down A Shoplifter?
By 5.3.11
A three-year employee of Best Buy is now out of work, not for selling stolen TVs out the back door or taking returns without photo ID, but because he chased down a man attempting to pilfer a pair of laptops from the store. [More]
Bearded Man Steals $658 Worth Of Razors, May Have Shaved Beard By Now
By 4.6.11
New Jersey’s Hunterdon County Democrat urges the public to watch out for a criminal on the loose. A tall, burly, bearded man shoplifted $658 worth of expensive razors from a Walgreens store. Police told the newspaper that the man “may or may not have a beard at this time.” [More]
Cops Taser 400-Pound Alleged Shoplifter Riding Motorized Cart
By 3.30.11
Tangles between shoplifters and law enforcement often make for entertaining spectacles, but what went down at a Macomb County, Mich. Meijer in February is tough to top. When a 400-pound woman allegedly used a motorized cart to try to cruise away with $600 in stolen items, she got stuck at the door. She then allegedly pushed and punched a security guard, then resisted arrest until an officer subdued her with a Taser. [More]
Shoplifter Stuffs Chainsaw Down His Pants
By 2.23.11
If you were a criminal and needed to shoplift a chainsaw from a retail establishment discreetly, safely, and efficiently, how would you go about it? An Oklahoma man allegedly chose a novel method: stuffing it down his shorts. [More]
