So I got falsely accused of stealing at Sears...

[hopeunknown]

Being accused of shoplifting when all you were doing was checking prices. Yeah.

So after going to Gamestop tonight to trade some games I bought from Blockbuster and Sears a few days before. I go in, check the prices of a few stacks of games at the self-checker (literally 3 aisles from the game section) since the associates, like every Sears I go to, are chatting and not working at all, and frankly I'd rather not bother them. So I go about checking a few games, thinking about purchasing Picross DS for Jeff since the other day I talked with him about it and he said he wanted it. Thought about buying another copy of Lair for trade, but didn't. I didn't buy anything, in fact, and just put everything back in the cardboard display shipper where all the games that aren't locked up are put. During this time I probably checked my cell phone for new emails or something, and occasionally looked online for Goozex/Amazon/trade-in prices to see if anything was worth picking up (note - I did the SAME EXACT THING when I went there on 1/9 (Friday) and was there probably 45 min going back and forth checking things), I put everything back in the shipper (note - probably NOT in the EXACT spots I grabbed stuff from, as I was picking 5-8 things and a time and checking prices) and when I decided I wasn't going to buy anything, I left Sears/the mall and went back to my car.

After this, I went over to Sears in Swansea at around 8pm to check and see if there was anything getting over there. There wasn't, as everything there is properly marked, and I left the Swansea mall and drove over to Yankee Spirits (since it's big, awesome, and cheap) and bought a 12 pack of Harpoon IPA and some Kamikaze thing I know I'll never finish or touch barely anyways. So, after I buy that junk I go about home and head down 195.

When I'm about to get off 195 and check out Target around 9pm since they mark stuff down on Monday, I get a call from my mom saying the Dartmouth Police department were calling that I supposedly "shoplifted" 3 games in my pocket and that I needed to call them back. So I'm like "WTF??" and immediately head to a parking lot to note down what my mom had for the number. So I call, and the dispatcher sends the officers. They meet me, where I happen to be in the Sears parking lot after I got off 195 and talked to my mom.

So the officers pull up. The main one accusing me, Correia or whatever, gets out and says to me (more like yells at me) "so what do you want to tell me about the 3 games you stole?" where I reply, "I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't steal anything." We go back and forth, the other officer from the other cruiser gets a flashlight and looks in my car, notices my beer and is like "how old are you?" where I say "21 - want to see my license?" and then sees two XBox 360 games in the back (Table Tennis, which I bought for $5 at Toys R Us probably a year or so ago, and Tony Hawk Project 8, which is in a Gamestop disc only case which I bought in the B2G1 sale in November - clearly neither of them were from Sears since a) sears doesn't sell used games and b) table tennis hasn't been sold at Sears in over a year) and I explain that to him and lets that go. So Officer Correia is like "well we got you on color security video putting 3 games in your pocket with something black sticking out" in which I show him my G1 phone, which is black with a purple case on it (parts that are showing are black):

http://i41.tinypic.com/16gcpop.jpg

http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=45b54c509c9db85880c831ceb3ca63dd&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv6 97%2F$$$atronica%2FPhoto94-1.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/note_redirect.php?note_id=55921687844&h=3ff4fd1b1a48fd8712451293d7f7900d&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsmg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv6 97%2F$$$atronica%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DPh oto94-1.jpg)
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http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=2a7c3c5d82c737f831ed6b664a62f50f&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv6 97%2F$$$atronica%2FPhoto92.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/note_redirect.php?note_id=55921687844&h=35cc639e576ed0a46af04fb948d839ba&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsmg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv6 97%2F$$$atronica%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DPh oto92.jpg)
which is the only thing that was in my pocket, besides my keys and some papers and money. My pockets in my coat, like virtually all girl's clothing, are small and there is NO POSSIBLE WAY 3 DS cases would even fit in my pocket. I can't even fit one DS game in my pocket without it sticking out 1/3-1/2 rd of the way, and I even offer to have him look through my car, my purse etc and says "WHAT DIFFERENCE WOULD THAT MAKE NOW??" (since this was an hour after I left originally - how diligent) and I even say to him "well, let's go in Sears and I will show you where I put them in the shipper" and I go in with the officer (embarassing, let me tell you...) and show him the games I looked at and scanned (Picross, Assassin's Creed DS, Lair PS3, and some other DS/PSP games - just checking if anything else was $0.97 that I may have overlooked the other day) and the officer knew I had scanned a bunch of games the other day from the security footage. I asked him what games I supposedly "stole" and I could tell him EXACTLY where I put them back in the shipper, but he had no answer other than "just something black sticking out of your pocket - obviously, the start/home/trackball/menu/etc part of the front of my phone, which I had probably checked my messages on while I was checking prices). Sears' little boyscout loss prevention person (in plain clothes - obviously, I've worked retail before so I know what LP people from dept stores look like) was standing there the whole time. I even game him one of the copies of Picross that was in the shipper that had a slice in it, probably from a box cutter when someone was opening up shipment, and said "i saw this and thought I should give this to you since it was damaged. I didn't buy it for that reason" and he took it.

So, we leave, and the officer just says "I have to review the tape and enhance the picture to see the games you stole" and we go back to my car and was like "sometimes all this bullshit escalates into bigger things, you better not be lying about not being a thief to me" (mind you, RUDELY and LOUDLY and accusing me as if I supposedly stole a fucking TV or something) in which i say "absolutely, i perfectly understand that. i didn't steal anything" and he tells me he will review the tape and call me in a few days. So I go back into my car...

Needless to say, I DIDN'T STEAL ANYTHING and to be falsely accused of such actions makes me both embarassed (especially being in a mall parking lot surrounded by two cruisers - way to make me look like I'm some sort of drug dealer!) and angry (since the LP kid is probably some holiday hire looking for a raise from a company that is tanking anyways) and I'm seriously considering getting a laywer and speaking to Sears corporate about the whole situation. I'd like to know exactly what "games" I stole and see the video, which I found funny that they wouldn't show me the video either...oh well. I'm going to see what develops in the next two days and what I can do about it legally. It was uncalled for, especially since I so kindly shopped there and gave their sorry ass company $25 earlier this week. I want that little boyscout vigilante LP kid fired. :)

(WTF???)



(btw, if this is the wrong forum to put this in, I will move it. Just putting this out there as a warning to CAGs who check prices at Sears/Kmart/etc, this is copied from my LJ/Facebook so if towns don't make sense, sorry)

[refusedchaos]

damn that was fucked up...i wish you luck

[YoshiFan1]

I think they were watching me at Sears today as well, I took 4 games to the price checker and I saw a guy watching me since I was walking over to the next department to scan them and I think he thought I was planning on stealing them. He saw me put them back though. I usually have my sheet of UPC codes with me but it is impossible to have every single clearance game on there (especially stuff you don't know about until you get to the store) so sometimes I have to take stuff to the price scanner anyway.

I would definetly write a complaint letter and if they don't want people walking out of the electronics area with games, they should put a price check machine in the electronics area!

[galvatron2k1]

You should seek legal advice. From what I've been told at retail stores, they have to have evidence that you left the store with the merchandise before they can even attempt to arrest you. Also, they can never lose sight of you as well. I find it funny that you had enough time to leave and they call you back to the store. That in itself is fishy enough, speak to a lawyer about the matter.

Not sure how reliable this site is, but here's a link - http://www.crimedoctor.com/shoplifting2.htm

[CheapLikeAFox]

Lawyer would just be a waste of money IMO - since there's really no money involved other than random frivolous emotional distress you could claim - personally I wouldn't have wasted my time going back to sears, I would have told him I didn't steal a thing - he had no proof - and once he had an arrest warrant we could fight it out in court.

[homeland]

Seems completely B.S.. You call back the cops and they treat you like shit. Though I'm sure they're tired of dealing with kids. Since its a college town.

[defiance_17]

How did they get your mom's phone number? Somebody's screwing with somebody, but let me use this to mention that I really, really hate cops.

[Tyga24]

That really sucks what happened to you OP. I always have to walk over several aisles to the nearest price checker to scan games and usually feel uncomfortable doing so. It's worth it though since the employees are either never around or don't care to really help anyways.

[Vinny]

This sounds like entrapment... they give you all this shit about how you stole something and have evidence of you doing so. They expect you to crack and "admit" to doing it, after which, they don't need any evidence and they can charge you (because you "admitted" to doing it). This tactic sometimes makes innocent people admit crimes they never committed, thinking the police will charge them regardless and their lack of cooperation will result in harsher punishment.

[shelisheli]

I think they were watching me at Sears today as well

woah. this thread is creepy. i had someone following me in sears today. ive worked alot of retail so its easy to tell who the "security" is.


OP ive been accused of stealing before and theres nothing you can do but remind them that if they have no proof then they are embarassing both themselves and more importantly you. if they claim to have it on tape DEMAND to see it. dont let them give you excuses like "well need to review the tape" and do NOT let this slide. make sure that you file complaints with both sears and your PD and when doing so make it clear that youd like someone to get back to you about the complaints. oh, and make sure that you have all of the names of the people involved.

these people obviously did think that you stole something, but before accusing someone they need to be sure. i hope you get the apology that you deserve

[hopeunknown]

Seems completely B.S.. You call back the cops and they treat you like shit. Though I'm sure they're tired of dealing with kids. Since its a college town.

Yeah...but it's intersession here (spring semester doesn't start until the 26th) and it's UMass Dartmouth (a state school), not Dartmouth University. So, basically, a cheap-o college full of kids damaging stuff when they're drunk on campus. I live off campus, so luckily, I don't have to deal with that.

I'd just like to know what games I supposedly "stole". I probably "stole" my phone...which I bought online 2 months ago. Ugh. -_-

I probably won't go so far as a lawyer, but I may seek legal advice and see if there's a case for it. Being wrongly accused of a crime - even one as small as this - is not right, and to be treated as a thief and even be TOLD I was a "thief" by a cop on a power trip doesn't sit well with me. If anything, Sears corporate is going to get an earful, at the very least. I want that kid fired, too.

Plus the fact is...if you work at a mall, it should really be mall security who should've done a walk through and spoke with me. I worked at Suncoast and Gamestop in the past (both mall locations) and this is how we dealt with people we thought might be stealing.

[CheapLikeAFox]

Yeah, that's not entrapment - maybe a little hostile and coercion but entrapment involves them encouraging you to being an accessory to the actual crime - like if an undercover would have whispered to you "you can steal them, noone is ever watching" or been involved some how.

[hopeunknown]

How did they get your mom's phone number? Somebody's screwing with somebody, but let me use this to mention that I really, really hate cops.

They ran my plates on my car. My car is registered at my home address, but I live in another town due to school.

So, basically, you can't use the price checker though it's there for you to use. Or don't pull your phone out in the store. Or don't put anything in your pockets. Actually, don't have pockets at all. Actually, just don't shop at Sears and let them go out of business. :lol:

[hopeunknown]

And chances are they're making sure people aren't moving crap around because inventory for most stores is this time of year. They're probably making people feel like they're doing something wrong, even if that's what the price checkers are FOR. If they don't want people to use them - don't have them. Lock up ALL the games and have employees scan everything, if you're so worried about them. Sheesh.

[antlp89]

Wow that's some bullshit right there. Props for staying calm throughout the situation, I think I would have gone crazy.

[defiance_17]

They ran my plates on my car. My car is registered at my home address, but I live in another town due to school.

So, basically, you can't use the price checker though it's there for you to use. Or don't pull your phone out in the store. Or don't put anything in your pockets. Actually, don't have pockets at all. Actually, just don't shop at Sears and let them go out of business. :lol:
Jesus. I would have a very difficult time going through that without being a wiseass. Like, "So do you want to tell me about 'innocent until proven guilty,' tough guy?" I hope you raise as much hell as you reasonably can.

[Zeo]

I feel I must post for I am the Jeff mentioned in the post. Very important.

HI DANIELLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were talking Friday when we were game hunting at Sears, how they give us weird looks when we walk to the price scanner. They gave me a few weird looks when I was by myself in the past.

[hopeunknown]

I feel I must post for I am the Jeff mentioned in the post. Very important.

HI DANIELLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were talking Friday when we were game hunting at Sears, how they give us weird looks when we walk to the price scanner. They gave me a few weird looks when I was by myself in the past.

HI JEFF!!! Wtf, you joined CAG before I did? Way to be an active contributing member to the community, haha.

[Josef]

I think they were watching me at Sears today as well, I took 4 games to the price checker and I saw a guy watching me since I was walking over to the next department to scan them and I think he thought I was planning on stealing them. He saw me put them back though. I usually have my sheet of UPC codes with me but it is impossible to have every single clearance game on there (especially stuff you don't know about until you get to the store) so sometimes I have to take stuff to the price scanner anyway.

I would definetly write a complaint letter and if they don't want people walking out of the electronics area with games, they should put a price check machine in the electronics area!

What the hell? An employee was watching over me like a hawk as I went through the clearance bins tonight. I know Sears has a problem with video game theft (as evidenced by the gutted game cases I gave the employee watching me) but did they send out a memo or something? Sears should just leave everything in the glass cases if they don't want them stolen. Don't treat your customers like shit, though.

[Zeo]

HI JEFF!!! Wtf, you joined CAG before I did? Way to be an active contributing member to the community, haha.

I may only have 20 posts over 4 years, but that's only because I make every post count. Not like you, with your willy nilly posting.

[Arakias]

Someone was apparently shoplifting video games (or attempting to) from Sears in Danbury CT yesterday and when I was there earlier today, I overheard the staff talking about it, so I made sure I was in plain sight. Of course none of the staff were quite around, but I did get one fellow to help me pricescan stuff since there was no self checker.
Also, if they are afraid of shoplifting, they should move the games out closer to where they normally stand, not far back into a corner.

Lawyer would just be a waste of money IMO ...... and once he had an arrest warrant we could fight it out in court.

Sooooo, once you are in court, wouldnt you need to waste money to pay a lawyer?

[galvatron2k1]

What the hell? An employee was watching over me like a hawk as I went through the clearance bins tonight. I know Sears has a problem with video game theft (as evidenced by the gutted game cases I gave the employee watching me) but did they send out a memo or something? Sears should just leave everything in the glass cases if they don't want them stolen. Don't treat your customers like shit, though.

The best thing about it is that the games were all 19.99 and less most likely. Some were probably a few dollars. I mean, wtf?!!

[bluu]

Sears sux, your damm right,get that little beyotch l.p. kid fired,,,,,remember file the complaint with the p.d. to and keep harassing Sears Corp. till you gets that apology

you did nothing wrong so don't let those bastards get you.

[Malik112099]

Why would you call the cops to come accuse you of shoplifting? They would have had to find me.

[hopeunknown]

Why would you call the cops to come accuse you of shoplifting? They would have had to find me.

Because I didn't shoplift.

[phear3d]

man, the stuff you have to go through just to be a CAG.. im sorry that this happened to you really. its sad that you have to go through all of this. but, you should sue the police department and sears. at least threaten them. even if they do a check on you if you have no record, they have nothing on you. they wanted you to say the wrong stuff while they purposely imply that you stole something. you should also write to their corporate offices and complain about the whole situation. and if they dont give you the right response, call your local newspaper or tv station. if they himuliated you, they should be too.

if they dont want people to use their price scanners outside of the electronics, then they should have one there. i really dont go for the trouble of scanning games if the scanner is far away. i do 1 game occationally when i see no one at the register or if they see me with a game and they start to intentionally leave.

[Abalistar]

That's all incredibly lame. I'd say fuck filing a complaint, find the punk and punch 'em in the nose!

Why would you call the cops to come accuse you of shoplifting? They would have had to find me.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'd guess if you don't contact them, you could get into trouble or make it more difficult to prove yourself innocent.

[crystalklear64]

Post the phone number of the store on various websites with the disclaimer that the location will be stocking battletoads.

[hopeunknown]

Post the phone number of the store on various websites with the disclaimer that the location will be stocking battletoads.

hahaha, sic 4chan on them? lol

the store is always empty and overstocked with stuff. kinda boggles me how kmart/sears are still in business, other than for lawnmower/snowblower sales.

[HotShotX]

Reading over your story, you seem to be upset at the wrong person:

Some guy at Sears was trying to do his job and fucked up, but followed the proper procedure in calling the police in reporting what he thought was a shoplifter.

The cops however, we're being complete assholes and making accusations without reviewing the evidence.

You complaint should be sent to the Police Department, or whoever you'd like to come down on them, not Sears Corporate (though they should still get a phone call about it).

~HotShotX

[VipFREAK]

Sometimes I wonder why Sears is still around.

[hopeunknown]

Reading over your story, you seem to be upset at the wrong person:

Some guy at Sears was trying to do his job and fucked up, but followed the proper procedure in calling the police in reporting what he thought was a shoplifter.

The cops however, we're being complete assholes and making accusations without reviewing the evidence.

You complaint should be sent to the Police Department, or whoever you'd like to come down on them, not Sears Corporate (though they should still get a phone call about it).

~HotShotX

No, he did the wrong thing. If you are in a mall you are supposed to call mall security and have them handle it. The LP guy left the store and followed me out to my car and wrote my plates down (which is shady to me, for all I know he could be trying to find my address to break into my house or worse!). Falsely accusing a customer of stealing with no evidence is not right, be it him or the police. If he thought I was stealing, he should've alerted the mall about it. Mall security has cars, too.

Plus the fact I wasn't called until an hour later probably doesn't look too good, either.

Plus he walked right out of the store holding the Picross in his hand that was slashed with the boxcutter that I showed him. How do they know HE isn't stealing games? He could've threw it in his car, and this is to cover his own ass.

I'm still giving corporate a piece of my mind.

[zionoverfire]

See if your college offers any sort of free legal advice. A friend of mind got in a bind during college but was able to get very basic legal advice through the school. It really helped him determine what he needed to do to sort out the whole mess without paying to see a lawyer.

Once I got accused by mall security of dropping cherry bombs down the mens room toilets. They claimed all sorts of bullshit, that they had video tape of it, that someone had seem me do it, that they'd seen me leave the restroom right afterward and tried to get me to confess to something I never did, (of course none of this evidence ever materialized). I guess they managed to piss off a few too many people because about a month later the mall repleaced most of its Rent a cop force.

[Theenternal]

I bought a 360 game from sears, sealed with security label to find it without the disc for 9.99. They were actually pretty cool about it. Sorry about the situation got in, it will work out, if I were you I would call and get the guy in charge of theft fired.

[PenDynasty]

Yeah kudos for staying calm. I would have dropped my pants and told the little LP guy to suck it.

[oxidative]

That's fucked up. I'm always worried about this since I often find myself leaving stores empty handed when checking on clearance. I always make a point to be very deliberate and obvious if I'm going to be reaching into my pockets. Usually I just stay completely away from my pockets. If I'm wearing a jacket, I make sure to to leave it unzipped/unbuttoned until I'm outside the store.

You'll be fine when they review the tapes and realize they have nothing. Even better, there probably aren't any tapes since it's Sears and they are idiots.

[kube00]

repost the pics! That sucks OP, yea go get some legal advice, if its a college town they usually have a lawyer on campus who gives free advice. I got some advice from my campus laywer (Washington State University) in 2003 for a MIP

[coolsteel]

I applaud you OP just for staying calm, I have also worked retail so the second I heard oh we have proof I think that would have been right where I would be demanding to see it . I'm well aware of that BS tape crap, they'll talk and talk without a shred of proof waiting for you to admit to any little thing and it is really sad you got hit with that.

[hopeunknown]

Yeah, I sort of laughed at first like "WTF?" when they started talking to me and the cop said I was disrespecting him. Probably wouldn't even HAVE his job without college students like me around bringing money into the cowtown. I'm going to demand that I see this alleged "tape" of me stealing. Ugh. Seriously, there's kids that stab each other on campus and nothing is done about it yet cops waste their time harassing girls like me just looking for cheap DS games. :eyeroll:

I kept asking what were the exact titles of the games I "stole" and got no answer. Just "some square black thing" (a DS game) which would never be able to fit in my pocket.

btw, this is what my phone looks like. most of it is covered in a purple case, but for the menu key area, back of the screen, and keypad are all black: http://conceptpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/t-mobile-dream-g1-phone.jpg

for some reason every time i tried to photobucket post it kept coming up as not available?

[hopeunknown]

http://i41.tinypic.com/16gcpop.jpg

maybe this will work

[bshirk]

I've had the damn lawz stop me before too and accuse me of stealing. Probably think I'm a criminal just because I wear baggy clothes. My black and mexican friends have gotten harassed plenty of times for no reason too. Not to mention one of the damn cops in my area raped 6 women, and he got off easy. I see them busting more innocent people than helping.

Houses and apartments are getting robbed all the time around here, but they let them out on the streets immediately. They're often more concerned with giving people speeding tickets and busting people that don't look like them.

[integralsmatic]

http://i41.tinypic.com/16gcpop.jpg

maybe this will work

G1 Android is a pretty good start a google and Tmo(im a phone nut)

anyway, Yeah cops can be a bunch of dicks. Some act like that just to show you how little you are and how big he/she is. i doubt the cop will have anything on you so just relax and if he calls you back, get his badge ID and file a harsh complaint about him. thats the best you could do....or go get some legal advice as the others said.


Good luck with everything.

[OnyxPrimal]

Not cool at all, My wife goes with me to check on games and such and we've never been treated like that. Give em Hell. I'm sure it was nerve wracking and embarassing and the cop sounds like he was on a power trip.

[maddog1419]

What ever happened to "Innocent until proven guilty?" They assume that you had stolen 3 games right off the bat. They tell you that they have video footage of you stealing the games ala Try N Save. Well, if all thats true, how come they're not cuffing you and taking you downtown? That's when I would have demanded to see the footage, and when they fail to produce, kindly say go fuck yourself officer and have a wonderful night.Oh yeah, offering to let them search your stuff, they legally can't do that anyway.

OP, random question. Was this the Sears right next to the Swansea Mall? I'm new to the site, but I've been a cheapassgamer for a long time. Did they have any deals on 360/PS3 games? I heard you mention Lair, if it was really cheap I'd take a ride over.

Well, whatever you decide to do best of luck.

[dragoon99]

Wow, that's just insane. Sorry you had to go thru that.
At my Sears the discount game bin is right next to the register so they don't
have a problem keeping an eye. But I'd be afraid to use a price checker now
I don't even know where it is on the electronics floor.

[m3talst0rm]

I kind of know how you feel...

SO pissed after my trip to sears today. Picked up only one game: MLB 07: The Show for PSP.

Anyway, had my son in his stroller and my daughter (4) was with me as well. My wife had taken our newborn to the restroom to feed her so I was in the electronics for a while. There were no clerks around. No one to say "May I help you?" I was looking through the two big bins of games that say $19.99 and under. I would estimate 90% of the games did not have a price tag or if they did it was over the $19.99 mark. So, with no one in sight, I grabbed a handful of games (aprox. 6) and hiked over to the children's section to scan them. The price checker is in front of a checkout station and the girl that was assigned there was on the phone through this entire thing. Anyway, I did this about three or four times without finding anything that was at that "CAG" price. My wife comes out and she and my niece (11, yeah it was a big family outing) take the kids downstairs. In the last run I had noticed that The Show(PSP) was $2 so I decided to purchase it. I went to the clerk in childrens who was still on the phone. I then continued around the section and found a clerk in electronics and purchased the game. I then went to the escalator and went downstairs to find my family waiting for me outside the store in the mall. As soon as I get out of the store I hear "SIR, SIR!" and see a huffing guy dripping in sweat. He tells me he is with merchandise protection or some shit like that and asks me to go in the store with him. I agree and the dude gives me the third degree about where I got the bag that my game was in. I said I just bought the game and he said that nobody seen me buy the game. I gave it to him and he looked at the receipt and explained that several employees saw me carrying a big stack of games and that suddenly I had a sears bag and nobody seen me pay for anything. I told him that there was no one around, no price on the games, and I wanted to see how much they were. I returned the games to the bin. I was embarrassed I guess. I can just imagine this dude sprinting through the store to catch me in the 2 dollar game heist. I don't know why I didn't tell him off or ask to see a manager or something. He half-assed his apology and I left. I was in a bad mood the rest of the day. ARRGH!

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4553235#post4553235

[knightbeauchamp]

just fyi and IMHO .... I would definitely talk to a few attorneys about what happened and get a suit going. Not only did it emotionally scar you but the laws on your side about harassment. NOT ONLY : EVERY STOP must produce an arrest by most corporations standard or they will fire the agent who did the "false stop" <I used to work for loss prevention at walmart and then target when i first went to community college this was the norm> BUT they physically can't detain you without getting in trouble. <They could face kidnapping charges even if your only physically detained beyond your will for a few minutes.> And the big prize suits go out when they search you without permission, Usually they wil have a law enforcement officer actually do this. But some more ballzee employees will try it and thats when the jackpot sirens should go off.
Now i dont necessarily agree with frivalous lawsuits, but I think there is a very thin line to cross with FALSE STOPS. Especially if your ethnic, or female, or have some other profile alert they try ad abuse.
Hope this rant helps. PS I HATE THIEVES, but I pitty the innocent caught in the mighty COG of justice.

[Chitown021]

My Sears has two floors. The upper floor has all of the housewares, clothing, shoes, jewerly, etc... The lower floor has lawn & garden, appliances, and electronics. There's only one self scanner on the lower floor and it's on the opposite side in L&G. One night several months ago I picked up a stack of about 8 games that I wanted to check. I took them over to the scanner, checked them, and put them back exactly where I got them. The entire time there was an employee standing down the isle about 50 ft away with a clipboard watching me like a hawk. I was just waiting for them to do to me the same thing they did to you OP but they never said anything.

[DuelLadyS]

Talk to a lawyer, or the law professors/students at your school- this is nuts, you could probably get the Sears and the PD for harassment and maybe slander (I don't know my law that well, but it sounds like slander to me. If you can get his name, you might be able to go after LP kid specifically (Now that'll show him how handle this stuff right!)

[whitedeath]

call a lawyers and file a lawsuit for defamation of charcter. trust me i used to work loss prevention in a boscovs store. thats why we were so careful with shop lifters. in our store a false claim the person was usually good for about 10-15k.

[plasticbathmonki]

If you just want to be mean and mess with them, call your local or state chapter of the ACLU.

[goomba478]

Whoa OP, I'm really sorry to hear that. You just made me think twice about my price-searching ideas. I have a portable barcode scanner (bluetooth ROV) that can scan items and then price check when you are within 50 feet or so of my Apple Mac Mini... So I was thinking of going to the stores and scanning a bunch of games for price-shopping checks. Made me think twice about that now. It's a shame when big companies start treating customers like criminals. Don't let them get you down, you didn't do anything wrong. They should apologize to you!

[Z_meista]

that's seriously fucked up...
file a complaint at that store.

[silent h3ro]

My local Sears keeps all the games locked away. But yeah that is really stupid how they accused you of stealing with no evidence. That is just f'ed up.

[gr8asianman]

Wow, based on this I see a bunch of faults in the Sears LP department. I worked as an LP manager for three years and this whole thing borders a 'bad stop.' First, depending on your state laws concealment is not always a crime. Second, unless they have clear video footage (most stores use DVRs) of you concealing something on your person and then have constant surveillance of you walking from the point of concealment past the final point of sale (which should be past EAS [electronic article surveillance] pedestals by the door) then they have no factual evidence with which to accuse you of stealing. Without that it is the LP's word against yours.

As for the police i hope you got their badge numbers and plan on filing a complaint with the local PD. If they were LP's and used the word 'stole' without 100% positive video footage in most retail environments it would be immediate termination. As maddog1419 pointed out "What ever happened to 'Innocent until proven guilty?'" In my opinion they were trying to intimidate you into confessing without any evidence other than the LP's word. The second they mentioned 'color video footage' I would have asked them to show it to me right now or stop wasting my time. With the DVR security systems now it should take them less than 15min to bring up whatever footage they have. As for them saying they need to 'enhance the footage to show what you stole' it sounds to me like he has been watching a little to much CSI.

Pardon my rant but hearing about people being falsely accused of shoplifting really irks me.

[SaraAB]

Yeah, I think I am going to stop price checking pretty much everything at sears because of these stories, and I price check a lot of stuff there at scanners. I have heard way too many of these stories from Sears by now and I simply cannot risk any police contact because a black mark on your record or even being in the police database can affect your ability to get a job. This also means that I will be buying less merchandise at their mismanaged stores. Dare the customer try to give the retail store money in this economy! I would think scanning barcodes at scanners would get you in more trouble than scanning an actual product but I have scanned hundreds of barcodes at Kmart and have not gotten in trouble once, and from what I hear Kmart has a pretty good Loss Prevention department.

[junglalien]

Go back....Start with a game you know is marked wrong... and have them check the price on EVERYTHING locked in the glass case for you...

[crazylikeafox11]

Working at a law firm, I don't think any attorney would take your case unless you threw a lot of money their way to retain them. There's no real reason to file a lawsuit or something like some members are recommending (oh and a legal aid office will probably tell you that they won't take your case as they prefer to spend their time on other ventures that look to have better results).

Plus, there's a difference between being detained and being arrested. Even if they had you in handcuffs and were just asking you questions, that still counts as being detained. Arrested means that your rights were read and you were booked. (Just fyi, since someone said something earlier about you being arrested.)

If the cops were called, there was more than likely an incident report filed. You can request a copy of this (should be free but depends on your local precinct). Get a copy of that. That will have the officers names and badge numbers so that you can then file a complaint against them for their offensive behavior. Hell, it might even tell you the name of the Sears employee (I know we've subpoenaed police records before re: incidents at Sears and I do believe it had the employee's name listed).

I'd then go to Sears and ask to speak a manager (or call and complain that way--I'm not sure what kind of levels of Sears higher ups there are) and explain what happened with the police incident, the employee's behavior of following you to your car and getting your tags (if it was a male, why not the play the scared b/c some guy's stalking you card--plus, is this really store/company policy), and make sure they know how upset you are over all this but in a polite manner. You're a regular Sears customer but after that incident, you might not be back. (Perhaps your college can run a story about it?)

Sears is already in the shitter economically and if you get your college to run a story or something, I'm sure they'd give you some sort of small something as an apology (perhaps a giftcard).

Anywho, I'm work and need to get back to that. Sorry if this is somewhat disjointed.

[HowStern]

what sears was this? I worked at the warehouse in the taunton one a while back for like a month before I decided I would kill everyone if I didn't quit.

the main LP guy there was like this fat wanna be tough guy who would have never been able to run after anyone. he would always try to intimdate us since we were taking the stuff off the trucks it would have been easiest for us to pocket shit.

[Ryuukishi]

If the cops were called, there was more than likely an incident report filed. You can request a copy of this (should be free but depends on your local precinct). Get a copy of that. That will have the officers names and badge numbers so that you can then file a complaint against them for their offensive behavior. Hell, it might even tell you the name of the Sears employee (I know we've subpoenaed police records before re: incidents at Sears and I do believe it had the employee's name listed).

I'd then go to Sears and ask to speak a manager (or call and complain that way--I'm not sure what kind of levels of Sears higher ups there are) and explain what happened with the police incident, the employee's behavior of following you to your car and getting your tags (if it was a male, why not the play the scared b/c some guy's stalking you card--plus, is this really store/company policy), and make sure they know how upset you are over all this but in a polite manner. You're a regular Sears customer but after that incident, you might not be back.
This. Really, all the internet tough guy talk about suing Sears for $10,000 is pretty silly. You should definitely complain to a Sears manager and to the police department though.

[mtxbass1]

You might get a few more responses to this if you posted it over at the Consumerist, OP. They are all about "consumer's rights" and all that.

[Sk]

Moral of the story is sears sucks. It was my first job in HS when I just turned 16 and I quit shortly there after. All the people working "security" are retards. Most of them are either college drop outs, HS drop outs, and useless retired soldiers who lack the drive to better themselves (I'm not ripping on the armed forces). I remember they'd roam around the store acting like they were better than everyone that worked there...yeah right they worked at sears for a living and acted like wana-be bad ass cops. I caught more shoplifter then them (I only reported people for the money/reward). It was a rather dumb run company. It doesn't shock me how deep into the shitter they are. Seriously my local sears was at one point the busiest store in my mall. Now it's no where near as busy as it once was. Seriously they don't even staff the upstairs level...

Also sadly sears was in the right....sad to say. They handled this situation quite well by calling the cops and having them deal with it. There is nothing wrong with calling in a potential crime (hell they might have only thought you potentially stole something but weren't sure and they just called it in just to make sure). If you are found innocent no one is at fault. The only reason this is done is from the fact that the legal system tries to protect those that call in crimes from law suits. Otherwise no one would call the cops in fear of getting sued if no crime was committed. People would then be suing for defamation left and right. This is one of the first thing you learn in any law class. However I will say they should have reviewed the security tape better obviously they looked at the tape a couple of times because they followed you out the door and to your car to get your plates. If they did look at the tape clearly and not over react (seriously these guys get boners when they catch a theft) then they'd clearly see all you put in your pocket was a cell phone. That was just lazy workmanship. I also would have demanded to see the tape. Dumb townie cops over react and that sears employee just jumped the gun way too fast by calling them without reviewing the tape. Also calling their corporate office will do you little good by filing a complaint. You can try but I'd bet they'd back the employees actions because he acted with the intention of protecting the company's assets on his mind. Unfortunately they'll just treat you like a causality on their on war retail theft.

[Persona7]

Tell them to show you the video or fuck off. Target accused me of stealing when I was taking pictures of the DCIP's with my phone and I told them to show me the video or im leaving.

The AP guy was like "lol we cant show you that, its private information". I just walked out.

[YoshiFan1]

Yeah, I think I am going to stop price checking pretty much everything at sears because of these stories, and I price check a lot of stuff there at scanners. I have heard way too many of these stories from Sears by now and I simply cannot risk any police contact because a black mark on your record or even being in the police database can affect your ability to get a job. This also means that I will be buying less merchandise at their mismanaged stores. Dare the customer try to give the retail store money in this economy! I would think scanning barcodes at scanners would get you in more trouble than scanning an actual product but I have scanned hundreds of barcodes at Kmart and have not gotten in trouble once, and from what I hear Kmart has a pretty good Loss Prevention department.

That's always been a concern for me as well. I like using printed UPC's so I don't have to ask for a price check and deal with "the price is whatever it is stickered for." But I am always afraid they are going to think I am using my printed UPC's to change the prices somehow. I know that is not possible and sounds crazy but I'm sure anyone who buys clearance games on a regular basis knows how surprised the employees are at the low prices and sometimes have them question why they are so cheap and I wouldn't put it past someone to think I was changing the prices myself just because they think it doesn't seem right for a PS3 game to be scanning for $0.97.

[Crazyglitcher]

I totally understand where you're coming from. My sister was accused of stealing gel pens (not the same thing I know) from Sears but since she was already carrying a lot in her pocket (She always does for some weird reason) the Sears mall cop thought he was right, so he slapped her with a theft charge. As my friend would say in these situations: That's some whack s@#!.

[tsmvengy]

No, he did the wrong thing. If you are in a mall you are supposed to call mall security and have them handle it. The LP guy left the store and followed me out to my car and wrote my plates down (which is shady to me, for all I know he could be trying to find my address to break into my house or worse!). Falsely accusing a customer of stealing with no evidence is not right, be it him or the police. If he thought I was stealing, he should've alerted the mall about it. Mall security has cars, too.

Plus the fact I wasn't called until an hour later probably doesn't look too good, either.

Plus he walked right out of the store holding the Picross in his hand that was slashed with the boxcutter that I showed him. How do they know HE isn't stealing games? He could've threw it in his car, and this is to cover his own ass.

I'm still giving corporate a piece of my mind.
#1. What the LP person did is not out of order. If he was under the impression that you stole something, he sure as hell can report you to the police. And your license plates is an identifying mark for the police. The Loss Prevention person at Sears is not going to be able to find your address with your fucking license plate number, that's information the police have and information they do not give out.

#2. It's not "false accusation" or a violation of your civil rights if the LP person believes he saw you take something and stuff it in your pocket and walk out.

#3. Filing some kind of ridiculous lawsuit about "character defamation" or "emotional distress" is not productive. You were not defamed, and it doesn't sound like you were caused any lasting distress (beyond your frustration with the situation). If you are concerned about how the cops were treating you then file a complaint with the police department. If the cops were belittling you or intimidating you or getting in your face and screaming at you then you have a reason for complaint on that front. I see no evidence of that beyond typical asshole cop behavior.

Maybe before you start throwing accusations around and complaining about this grave injustice you should take a step back and see how the situation looked through the LP person's eyes. You can feel free to use price checkers or whatever you want but don't be surprised when the person whose job it is to deal with stolen merchandise acts when he thinks he sees someone shoplifting.

[elmyra]

I hate to be another bearer of bad news, but filing a complaint about the cops will do virtually nothing. Cops are pretty much able to act as douchebags without consequence, and unless you got it on tape, they're going to get the benefit of the doubt - not you. You're just another whiny (possible) criminal as far as anyone at the PD knows or cares; they get so many complaints that they pretty much dismiss them automatically without proof.

[GuardianE]

Maybe before you start throwing accusations around and complaining about this grave injustice you should take a step back and see how the situation looked through the LP person's eyes. You can feel free to use price checkers or whatever you want but don't be surprised when the person whose job it is to deal with stolen merchandise acts when he thinks he sees someone shoplifting.

Therein lies the problem. It's his job to deal with stolen merchandise. He obviously doesn't know how to do his job. You might think that no one cares about this 'injustice' or 'defamation' but Sears cares.

File a complaint with Sears and get that guy demoted into a position where he won't cause as much trouble.

[SirSavesALot]

douches, straight up.

[camoor]

I hate to be another bearer of bad news, but filing a complaint about the cops will do virtually nothing. Cops are pretty much able to act as douchebags without consequence, and unless you got it on tape, they're going to get the benefit of the doubt - not you. You're just another whiny (possible) criminal as far as anyone at the PD knows or cares; they get so many complaints that they pretty much dismiss them automatically without proof.

Yup. It's funny how on cop shows a criminal chips a fingernail and it's a grand inquisition, when in real life you can complain of being beaten within an inch of your life and it hits the circular file before you're out the door.

OP, you could talk to a lawyer but you're just going to feel foolish when he asks you "OK what do you want me to do? You're not in jail, you're not charged with anything, and there's no grounds to sue as the cops didn't break procedure." (after all you did agree to let them search your car, walk you into the store, etc)

OP if it makes you feel any better I bet the cops and the Sears manager were pissed at the Sears security guy for bothering them with a BS case. I wouldn't be surprised if he was chewed out after they let you go.

I know it sucks but at least your eyes are opened to the fact that we live in a police state. Remember this anytime someone tries to get you to believe in some BS like "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear"

[tsmvengy]

Therein lies the problem. It's his job to deal with stolen merchandise. He obviously doesn't know how to do his job. You might think that no one cares about this 'injustice' or 'defamation' but Sears cares.

File a complaint with Sears and get that guy demoted into a position where he won't cause as much trouble.
What I'm saying is that it's not an injustice and the LP person was doing his job in so far as he assessed the situation. He thought he saw the OP steal something and he acted. It turns out he was wrong. I'm not sure how that falls into "he doesn't know how to do his job" - he incorrectly assessed the situation.

The reality is that the cops didn't pull the OP over, slam him/her against the hood and perform a body cavity search while they searched the car. They called the OP's house and asked to speak with him/her. And when the OP met up with the cops, they didn't even search the car or anything! They had the OP explain the situation and accompany them to the store. Then afterwards they said they would check the tapes and let the OP be on his/her way.

Also, you clearly don't know what defamation means as it looks like from the OP that this was handled in an entirely private manner. You can't sue the police/Sears because they made you feel privately embarrassed when they accused you of something. They didn't do anything to affect the OP publicly.

EDIT: And in a town like Dartmouth filing a complaint with the police might actually lead to something if the officer was out of line. Judging by the OP it just sounds like typical cop asshole behavior and not that the OP was intimidated/screamed at.

[GuardianE]

What I'm saying is that it's not an injustice and he was doing his job in so far as he assessed the situation. He thought he saw the OP steal something and he acted. It turns out he was wrong. I'm not sure how that falls into "he doesn't know how to do his job" - he incorrectly assessed the situation.

Also, you clearly don't know what defamation means as it looks like from the OP that this was handled in an entirely private manner. You can't sue the police/Sears because they made you feel privately embarrassed when they accused you of something. They didn't do anything to affect the OP publicly.

You clearly don't know what quotation marks mean.

The Loss Prevention worker incorrectly assessed the situation and assessing the situation is part of his job, ergo he doesn't know how to do his job. He made a mistake that escalated and could have been handled very differently. From a customer service standpoint, it was done very poorly.

Not only did he make an accusation about something he thought he saw, but he was willing to go out on a limb and make a very specific accusation of three DS games stolen. Then, instead of confronting the person, like an employee should do with a young shoplifter, he followed the individual to copy down their license plate number. At the very least, he should be reprimanded.

[DarkKenpachi]

reading this whole thing is crazy. I honestly feel sorry for you and I BELIEVE YOU NEED TO TAKE THIS AS FAR AS IT CAN GO.

[eastshore4]

It sounds like you came across a real pain-in-the-ass situation, but at the same time I do feel sort of compelled to defend sears to an extent. It's completely innocent, but many of the techniques us CAGs use (checking prices in bulk, snapping pics of dlcps, hiding games in other places to visit later, etc) are very suspicious and out of the ordinary for the average shopper. Hell, even still when I hear some of these flipping tactics some of you guys use I can only think "how do you do this without raising an eyebrow?".

Don't get me wrong I still understand where you're coming from... I've had more than one bad experience myself. When I was 15 I went to walmart to buy a copy of GTA VC for my bro. When the guy pulled it from the glass he said he could ring me up, but I wanted some of that awesome flavored water they sell so I told him I was going to continue shopping around to which he replied "you know, we've got cameras ALL over this place, so don't even think about stealing this!". When I worked a summer camp in virginia we would take weekly trips to another walmart. I was informed ahead of time that the staff follows you and pretends to clean the aisles even though they're really keeping an eye on you. The whole thing seemed stupid on walmart's behalf, that is, until one of my coworkers took a stack of DVDs to the garden section, gutted the cases and stole the discs...

I guess I'm just trying to suggest considering the flipside of this situation. If anything, I think the blame rests more on the thugs who go around stealing crap and as a result make these stores overly suspicious. The cops, well of course they can be overly-authorative and jerky, but considering the crap they have to deal with outside of petty crimes can be pretty rough I tend to let it slide

[hopeunknown]

OP, random question. Was this the Sears right next to the Swansea Mall? I'm new to the site, but I've been a cheapassgamer for a long time. Did they have any deals on 360/PS3 games? I heard you mention Lair, if it was really cheap I'd take a ride over.

This was the North Dartmouth store. Swansea mall store has everything correctly labelled, like a store should.

what sears was this? I worked at the warehouse in the taunton one a while back for like a month before I decided I would kill everyone if I didn't quit.

the main LP guy there was like this fat wanna be tough guy who would have never been able to run after anyone. he would always try to intimdate us since we were taking the stuff off the trucks it would have been easiest for us to pocket shit.

The Taunton store always watches me and my friend like hawks. Their price checker is towards the store entrance, we always make sure not to stray further than the price checker. I know theft is big there, since I used to work at the EB (now Gamestop) right next to it. I guess some dude was just taking all the new DVDs from Sears, not even taking off the stickers, and trading them to EB for cash. The manager at EB even called Sears and mall security, but they didn't care. Some other dude also ran out of Sears with a TV, seriously. Great job! (Not to mention when I worked at Suncoast before that, some guys came in dressed as construction workers with a truck, told mall security they were fixing a broken ATM, ended up throwing it in their truck and beat it and broke it in a field in Middleboro, lol. I don't think they were ever caught, actually.) Then again, Silver City Galleria is a joke and there's a stabbing there every 1-2 years. And drunk people from Ruby Tuesday falling down escalators. Oh man, ridiculous. (Sorry to digress)

No, this kid was a skinny teens-20s kid in a red sweater and khakis. Blonde hair. Probably like 5'7". My friend used to work LP at JcPenney in Taunton so I know what they have to do. They're supposed to radio store and mall security and have them handle it before anything else.

I think the whole thing was is I put my phone on top of the pile of games I was checking since I was checking goozex or something or my email, whatever, and then when I put the games back in the shipper I took my phone off the top of the pile and put it in my pocket. IMO, the LP kid should be fired, since this thread for example, makes them look like fools and might potentially make them lose business. Even compared to the Taunton and Swansea stores, this one NEVER marks games correctly, I don't see more than 5 customers in the store, plus there were cardboard boxes everywhere...yeah, their store is probably not doing too well in the district. Gold star for boyscout LP boy.


Don't get me wrong I still understand where you're coming from... I've had more than one bad experience myself. When I was 15 I went to walmart to buy a copy of GTA VC for my bro. When the guy pulled it from the glass he said he could ring me up, but I wanted some of that awesome flavored water they sell so I told him I was going to continue shopping around to which he replied "you know, we've got cameras ALL over this place, so don't even think about stealing this!". When I worked a summer camp in virginia we would take weekly trips to another walmart. I was informed ahead of time that the staff follows you and pretends to clean the aisles even though they're really keeping an eye on you. The whole thing seemed stupid on walmart's behalf, that is, until one of my coworkers took a stack of DVDs to the garden section, gutted the cases and stole the discs...


I don't get Wal*Mart either. How they have so many people on the floor and never any registers open. Plus they took the self-checkout away so there's no way of getting out of there anywhere fast. Plus didn't Wal*Mart basically say fuck it to anything that was valued under $25 that was stolen, since it cost too much to deal with?

I kind of know how you feel...



http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4553235#post4553235

I think I remember reading this in one of the older Sears threads. Yeah, the supposed games I "stole" were probably the 2x Picross (4.97) and 1x Assassin's Cred (4.97)...so $15 in merch. I even showed them exactly where I put them back (I put them in the bottom of the shipper so if I were to come back later or have my friend pick up the Picross for himself he would know where I put it - because that shipper is MESSY and that Sears doesn't put anything in those metal bins in the middle of the aisle like other Sears I've been to), showed them some PSP games I scanned, and yeah. I almost want to call them up and ask them if their price scanner keeps a log so I can show them every single game I scanned and where I put them. The place would probably be more organized before this whole fiasco started!

[HowStern]

This was the North Dartmouth store. Swansea mall store has everything correctly labelled, like a store should.



The Taunton store always watches me and my friend like hawks. Their price checker is towards the store entrance, we always make sure not to stray further than the price checker. I know theft is big there, since I used to work at the EB (now Gamestop) right next to it. I guess some dude was just taking all the new DVDs from Sears, not even taking off the stickers, and trading them to EB for cash. The manager at EB even called Sears and mall security, but they didn't care. Some other dude also ran out of Sears with a TV, seriously. Great job! (Not to mention when I worked at Suncoast before that, some guys came in dressed as construction workers with a truck, told mall security they were fixing a broken ATM, ended up throwing it in their truck and beat it and broke it in a field in Middleboro, lol. I don't think they were ever caught, actually.) Then again, Silver City Galleria is a joke and there's a stabbing there every 1-2 years. And drunk people from Ruby Tuesday falling down escalators. Oh man, ridiculous. (Sorry to digress)



haha yeah man I was there when that guy got stabbed and killed and i didn't see it happen but i saw the janitor mopping up a bunch of red stuff. ha dude was wiping up a crime scene. what a fuckin dumb dumb.

That's definitely creepy he took down your plate number. Especially over clearance games, ya know.

[rainking187]

This is some weird shit. I've seen a few people get arrested for shoplifting over the years, and they always try to stop them before they get to the parking lot. The attitude definitely doesn't appear to be "Eh, we'll call the cops later." I was talking to the store manager at a TRU once when an employee came up and told him there was someone shoplifting in the store and he took off sprinting. The guy knows the P part of LP stands for Prevention, right?

[GameBoyee]

What The fucking S**t.When i was 10 at maxi in the electronics section,i walked out and the alarm rang and the girl says:"Did you steal anything?",i say "no".Whtas in your pockets, i show her that i have my Gloves and thats it.(This was in december)

[yukine]

I'd be pretty pissed if this happened to me.

It's a bit telling though that a lot of CAGs have had this same problem with Sears.

[galvatron2k1]

#1. What the LP person did is not out of order. If he was under the impression that you stole something, he sure as hell can report you to the police. And your license plates is an identifying mark for the police. The Loss Prevention person at Sears is not going to be able to find your address with your fucking license plate number, that's information the police have and information they do not give out.

Actually, he was out of order. A friend on mine worked at a department store with LP. A guy stole something but he lost sight of him when he went in the bathroom (the guy had stolen many times and they recognized him when he walked in). Long story short, the guy left the premises. My friend detained him and he indeed stole some merchandise and was caught. However, because my friend did not follow proper procedure (lost sight of the guy in the bathroom) he was terminated. So, if the OP did put the games back, he obviously "didn't see" that part. So, he did lose sight of the OP at some point.

Also, it sounds like the OP didn't make a mad dash for her car and take off. She left the premises like nothing happened and they called her back. I'm not completely sure what the law is in the OP's city, but that just sounds like a botched apprehension/detainment attempt. The LP involved should be reprimanded, up to and possibly including termination, at the least.

[Rozz]

They watched me like a hawk at SEARS today when I was checking out the clearance games.

[rockhero]

What you need to do in a situation like that is look the cop right in the eye and say, "Charge me with something or I'm out of here" and then walk out like a badass

[silent h3ro]

What The fucking S**t.When i was 10 at maxi in the electronics section,i walked out and the alarm rang and the girl says:"Did you steal anything?",i say "no".Whtas in your pockets, i show her that i have my Gloves and thats it.(This was in december)lol So you're 11 years old?

[slidecage]

i never knew the police will call a house.

1.... how would they even know who the hell you are to get your home phone number let alone hours after you left a store. If someone thinks you took something they would stop you at the door or chase you out of the store.

[blackjaw]

What The fucking S**t.When i was 10 at maxi in the electronics section,i walked out and the alarm rang and the girl says:"Did you steal anything?",i say "no".Whtas in your pockets, i show her that i have my Gloves and thats it.(This was in december)

Would your mother approve of that language? Didn't she have to sign a waiver when you signed up for this board since you are under 18?

[Access_Denied]

OP, I would let it go. Use this as a practical joke next time you walk into the store. Start acting suspicious on purpose. See what they do. It'll be funny. :bouncy:

Also, this reminds me of my dad. :roll:

We live right across the street from a Jewel Osco. And for the past few years, my dad always had this one guy following him in the store. Not every time we went in (which is once a day), but most of the time. Finally, my dad asks the clerk who the guy is. The clerk says he's part of store security, looking for shoplifters. (Yeah, lots of 45 year old men love to steal cheese. :lol:) Anyway, about 3 months ago, my dad told him to get the fuck away from him and that he wasn't stealing anything. Haven't see him since. :D

[dab0yech0]

Wow, I used to work Sears LP in Glendale, CA and I am wondering why they are allowed to call the cops and everything? The rule for Sears LP states that when you leave the parking lot area, they can't stop you anymore (alot of my fellow LPers do anyways since the thieves usually don't know the rule) You should contact corporate about it.

Also this LP guy is a joke if he contacts the police about all that stuff. We always get guys right as they walk out the door, must be some pussy shit to call the cops after you leave and still think that you stole something when you obviously didn't.

One last thing, talk to the loss prevention manager and demand that the LP kid gets a NPD which is a non productive stop. Its gonna go on his record, and most likely means he gets fired. Sometimes the store tries to compensate under the table and offer you something for free because a NPD looks really bad for the store.

[addicted2games]

Well, my Sears had the Jan. clearance stickers on the games today. So I didnt have to price check them.

[hopeunknown]

i never knew the police will call a house.

1.... how would they even know who the hell you are to get your home phone number let alone hours after you left a store. If someone thinks you took something they would stop you at the door or chase you out of the store.

They ran the plates on my car and looked up my address (my house) and called the house phone. My mom wouldn't give them my phone number and asked for their number so I could call them (for my protection, since there's always phony people trying to be cops and play pranks, to be safe, etc). So I called them and they met up with me and treated me like I was a criminal. Rofl. they're lucky I even came back and gave them my time and explanation to begin with.

[hopeunknown]

Wow, I used to work Sears LP in Glendale, CA and I am wondering why they are allowed to call the cops and everything? The rule for Sears LP states that when you leave the parking lot area, they can't stop you anymore (alot of my fellow LPers do anyways since the thieves usually don't know the rule) You should contact corporate about it.

Also this LP guy is a joke if he contacts the police about all that stuff. We always get guys right as they walk out the door, must be some pussy shit to call the cops after you leave and still think that you stole something when you obviously didn't.

One last thing, talk to the loss prevention manager and demand that the LP kid gets a NPD which is a non productive stop. Its gonna go on his record, and most likely means he gets fired. Sometimes the store tries to compensate under the table and offer you something for free because a NPD looks really bad for the store.

This is very insightful to my case. Thank you for replying, dab0yech0.

Yeah, basically I was looking through the shipper, which was literally next to 3 employees at a cash register (two girls, one in a skirt [is that even work attire?] and black ugg boots, and the other had dark hair. they were listening to backstreet boys (lol) and the stereo and chatting with each other while their manager, some older guy with grey hair and glasses, was mad at the girl in the skirt because she interpreted something as 'destroy' and he said she was supposed to be doing something else....anyways!) and some african-american dude looking at some surround sound system with a bluetooth on in a black shirt was right next to me while i looked in the shipper. I'm pretty sure the whole mix up was that I put my phone on top of the pile to check my emails or text messages and lifted it up off the pile and put in back in my pocket once I threw the games back in the shipper.

I thought mall parking lots were mall security's job to patrol, not Sears LP, since that technically isn't their property? I find it rather fucker up he followed me to my car, especially since I'm a 21 year old girl. All I know is he could've used to whole situation to find out my home address or to get my name stalk me on Facebook or whatever :roll: Plus he WALKED OUT OF HIS OWN STORE HOLDING STORE MERCH!! (The damaged copy of Picross) Um, wouldn't THAT be grounds enough to be fired?

Sears Corp is going to get a call tomorrow since I haven't heard back from cowtown's CSI hi-res survellience camera exploration lab about how I apparently stole my own phone. Because last time I checked Nintendo DS cases weren't 4" long and rectangular with buttons and a screen on them. :lol: I'll even let them know about this thread that has 2500+ views and over 75 replies (not to mention on Facebook and Livejournal I posted the same exact thing and there's probably an additional 30+ comments on those as well).

[xycury]

damn sorry for the trouble... but you gotta think... maybe the LP likes you.

Stalking in the 21st Century.

[hopeunknown]

damn sorry for the trouble... but you gotta think... maybe the LP likes you.

Stalking in the 21st Cenury.

Haha, well I'm taken, so I'm good. Being accused of a crime = you suck at flirting hahaha. :lol:

[gokou36]

Wow, I can't believe you put up with the cop's bullshit. If that was me I would've just laughed at him and be on my way. What the LP guy did was wrong. If he thought you stole something, he should've stopped you BEFORE you went out the door. Otherwise they aren't allowed to do anything. You should call Sears corporate and even go back to that store and complain to higher up about how that guy was stalking you and made you felt unsafety. Maybe you will get something free, after all, it IS their fault.

That cop was totally out of line. He had no warrant so he's not even allowed to search your car. I can't believe you offered to go back into the store with him and then not get an apology. You should've told him to buzz off since he had no evidence and be on your way. If he laid a finger on you then you could've filed for a massive lawsuit.

[Sharp Katana]

sears + cops = suck

i do a lot of price checking at target as well. And I keep in mind there are cameras rolling everywhere. Sometimes I am worried something like this might happen, but luckily for me it hasn't.

Best of luck to you OP. And if you choose to take legal action I hope you get something out of it.

[RedvsBlue]

Wow, I can't believe you put up with the cop's bullshit. If that was me I would've just laughed at him and be on my way. What the LP guy did was wrong. If he thought you stole something, he should've stopped you BEFORE you went out the door. Otherwise they aren't allowed to do anything. You should call Sears corporate and even go back to that store and complain to higher up about how that guy was stalking you and made you felt unsafety. Maybe you will get something free, after all, it IS their fault.

That cop was totally out of line. He had no warrant so he's not even allowed to search your car. I can't believe you offered to go back into the store with him and then not get an apology. You should've told him to buzz off since he had no evidence and be on your way. If he laid a finger on you then you could've filed for a massive lawsuit.

Consent trumps warrant.

[chosen1s]

Not reading all the posts, but...

1) It's hard not to sympathize with Sears. People steal stuff, and it sucks to be having to make the call on who is "acting funny" and who is stealing and always get it right. Buuuuuutttt...

2) The cops should have either had better evidence before being so accusatory, and/or should have treated you with more respect. Likely it is a nuance of the law that if you WERE guilty, then acting that way probably is the best way to get what they want out of you and because you weren't guilty they probably saw it as "they'll get over it". Sadly, they probably don't WANT to have to be such jerks, but I'm guessing they didn't have enough proof to arrest you, so the best they could do is put up the maximum bluff and IF you were guilty, try to get you to come clean. Cops are frustrating because on the one hand they have these power complexes, and on the other hand they have COMPLETELY thankless jobs with the people they put their lives on the line for every day always treating them like trash.

3) Sears does "watch" quite a bit. When I go in to price check, they always "offer" to help in any way they can. Last Sears I went to said "Can I ring those up for you over here?" I said "No, I'm just going to do a price check". I completely agree that the clerks are almost always completely distracted by something that is entirely arbitrary (on the phone, talking with another clerk, or giving someone who needs 60 seconds of help the 45-minute grand tour of the store). The other half the time they won't leave you alone.

4) They should just put a scanner in the game section and be done with it.

[MSUHitman]

Send this to consumerist.com and your local media outlets and get some press on your situation. Probably much easier to get a resolution.

[junglalien]

Well you've learned one thing for certain... Life isn't fair and you have no rights.. You aren't going to get anywhere legally and probally not get that LP guy in any trouble. I'd do something to make myself feel better like make them price check everything in the store for you. It could have been worse let me tell you. There are plenty of people wrong fully CONVICTED of crimes like murder in this country's criminal Just-Us system.

[gokou36]

Consent trumps warrant.

Yeah I know she consented to it, which she shouldn't have. She let the cop bully her trying to get her to confess that she stole stuff which she didn't. She wasted time letting him search, she wasted time going back to the store to show him where she put the games. I'm sure she felt humiliated. On top of that, she was labeled as a thief.


Well you've learned one thing for certain... Life isn't fair and you have no rights.. You aren't going to get anywhere legally and probally not get that LP guy in any trouble. I'd do something to make myself feel better like make them price check everything in the store for you. It could have been worse let me tell you. There are plenty of people wrong fully CONVICTED of crimes like murder in this country's criminal Just-Us system.


Please don't give advice dude. She had EVERY right to tell the cop to fuck off, ok not really but she did have the right to tell him to show her proof or get lost. Had she refused to cooperate, the cop couldn't do a damn thing to her.

[ITDEFX]

Wow that's really fucked up. The cop fucked up even more by saying, give us a few days to "enhance" the tape to see what you stole. It's like saying "I think you committed a crime, just give me a few days to come up with the evidence.."

It all depends on the type of camera footage Sears was using. I trust the full 30 fps vs the 5/10 fps that you see sometimes. You could have had the item in your hand one frame, the next it's gone (back on display for you) but from there point of you, they could think it's in your pocket because the video is giving incorrect information. Yes the camera doesn't lie, but it doesn't tell the whole story when FRAMES are missing. It would be very low if they police come back with footage with missing frames saying, what happened to the games?!?!?

And the associates, well they were just standing around doing nothing. If you were doing something suspicious, they should have gotten involved.

In all honesty what is going to happen is that they are going to look at the tapes, find you didn't steal shit and leave you a lone and never hear from them again. Don't bother calling them because that will give them reason to try to hunt you down. Just blow it off and never go back sears for a few months and you should be ok.

[junglalien]

Yeah I know she consented to it, which she shouldn't have. She let the cop bully her trying to get her to confess that she stole stuff which she didn't. She wasted time letting him search, she wasted time going back to the store to show him where she put the games. I'm sure she felt humiliated. On top of that, she was labeled as a thief.





Please don't give advice dude. She had EVERY right to tell the cop to fuck off, ok not really but she did have the right to tell him to show her proof or get lost. Had she refused to cooperate, the cop couldn't do a damn thing to her.

LoL hey idiot go ahead and tell the cops that and see what happens... I hate cops. SWAT raided my house, I called them every name in the book and ended up serving some time for something I didn't even do... This was with paying one of the supposed best lawyers in town over 27k... So I learned the hard way. Go ahead though and try it tough guy... Let your delusions of grandeur land you in same place I ended. You will find out quick you are nothing against "the man." You have to fight him covertly pal. The bill of rights is toilet paper. The pigs have ways around everyone of your supposed rights. I would have refused to cooperate myself but I don't mind being detained in a cell for a few hours. I don't how she would have felt about that.

[mietha]

I'm sure someone brought this up, but I'm not reading 100 posts: How the fuck did they know who you were? And besides, once you are out of the store, "a black shape sticking out of your pocket" is grounds for exactly jack and shit. Even if you HAD stole something, they had NOTHING on you, and, again, how, exactly, did they know not only who you were, but got your home phone number in under an hour?

Edit: So I went back and looked... So someone followed you to your car, wrote down the plates, called it in, the cops ran it and called your mom, all in under an hour, yet no one at the store confronted you? That seems a wee bit odd all around.

[InvaderZim]

Well... was it worth a cheap game?

[moojuice]

Although it is such a bad idea, if I were you, I'd go back to the Sears and price check things just for the hell of it, but yell out loud what I was doing every time I picked something up/put something back. Just to be a douche.

[techstar25]

Wow, I used to work Sears LP in Glendale, CA and I am wondering why they are allowed to call the cops and everything? The rule for Sears LP states that when you leave the parking lot area, they can't stop you anymore (alot of my fellow LPers do anyways since the thieves usually don't know the rule) You should contact corporate about it.

Also this LP guy is a joke if he contacts the police about all that stuff. We always get guys right as they walk out the door, must be some pussy shit to call the cops after you leave and still think that you stole something when you obviously didn't.

One last thing, talk to the loss prevention manager and demand that the LP kid gets a NPD which is a non productive stop. Its gonna go on his record, and most likely means he gets fired. Sometimes the store tries to compensate under the table and offer you something for free because a NPD looks really bad for the store.
I used to work at a Target near downtown Orlando, and although I didn't work in LP, I worked as a cart attendant (always near the front doors) and was called upon by LP when they needed an extra body to take somebody down (I'm a good sized fellow). The rules were explained to me as this, paraphrasing from what I remember:
(1) We must see somebody putting something in their pocket (you can't see a "lump" and just assume he has something hidden). We have to have to be 100% sure, because see #4.
(2) They must make an attempt to walk out the doors (you can put anything you want in your pocket, but as long as you stay in the store you're okay).
(3) Because of rule 2, employees can't approach the guest until he is OUTSIDE.
(4) Upon making it outside we are allowed to use ALL FORCE NECESSARY to bring them down, which usually means tackling him NFL style, face first into the concrete.

Now, in your case, you were not approached upon leaving, which as said above will likely get the LP kid fired.
(1) You were not caught leaving the store with merch.
(2) Employees can't accurately describe the merch (couldn't name a game).
(3) You weren't found with any of it on your person (you had no new games in your car).
(4) The security camera is all they have, and it won't have clear evidence obviously.
Sounds like an open and shut case for you. LP kid will get fired for wasting the cops time, and breaking the rules (getting your license plate is a BIG no-no).

I wouldn't be surprised if you never heard from the cops again. Of course that probably is no consolation, since you were publicly humiliated by some little jerk, but there probably isn't any legal recourse you can take against him. If I were you, I would ask for an apology from the store management, but leave it at that. It's always best to avoid the courts if possible.

[Akuma]

This is just wrong!

[charlescheese]

I don't see how they can prosecute you when they can't even tell you what exactly you stole.

[Maromi]

After this, I went over to Sears in Swansea at around 8pm to check and see if there was anything getting over there.

On another note... Cool! I'm in Fall River and work in the Swansea Mall (not at Sears XD).

And yeah, it makes sense that this happened in Dartmouth. There is so much freaking theft there I'd be surprised if you're one of the only people who's been falsely accused of stealing. Sears, though, especially in our area, is the most incompetent retail store on the planet.

[phear3d]

What I'm saying is that it's not an injustice and the LP person was doing his job in so far as he assessed the situation. He thought he saw the OP steal something and he acted. It turns out he was wrong. I'm not sure how that falls into "he doesn't know how to do his job" - he incorrectly assessed the situation.
being accusatory to this whole situation is a mistake. unless you dont physically see them putting merchandise inside their belongings, you cannot accuse them of stealing. the LP guy did the right thing by following her to her car and get her license plate number but made a mistake by calling the cops where he should have been just watching her movements.

[Clarke]

Wow, I used to work Sears LP in Glendale, CA and I am wondering why they are allowed to call the cops and everything? The rule for Sears LP states that when you leave the parking lot area, they can't stop you anymore (alot of my fellow LPers do anyways since the thieves usually don't know the rule) You should contact corporate about it.

Also this LP guy is a joke if he contacts the police about all that stuff. We always get guys right as they walk out the door, must be some pussy shit to call the cops after you leave and still think that you stole something when you obviously didn't.

One last thing, talk to the loss prevention manager and demand that the LP kid gets a NPD which is a non productive stop. Its gonna go on his record, and most likely means he gets fired. Sometimes the store tries to compensate under the table and offer you something for free because a NPD looks really bad for the store.
Okay let me get this straight. I can have my friend idling in the getaway car outside, book it with expensive electronics, escape past the parking lot, and claim the alarm must be a mistake because I bought it even though I "lost" the receipt...hmm interesting.

[strongpimphand]

How did they get your mom's phone number? Somebody's screwing with somebody, but let me use this to mention that I really, really hate cops.
I was wondering the same.....

[paz9x]

im not bothering to read through everybody replies. but ill give you mine.
i worked at sears for several years in asset protection (they change the name of loss prevention every couple years)
what happened was against company policy and id bet the LP associate would get fired. when i was there the situation you described was very serious.
id bet the lp guy was newer and there was not somebody senoir there. im in fact suprised that the police not only responded but tracked you down.
I would file suit against both sears and the police department. a video showing you put , "something" in your pocket when its not 100% identifiable is not enough to do anything short of banning you from the store and theres nothing they can legally do (speaking from a california perspective)
im certain what happened was the LP guy counting items and miscounted the number of items you picked up or put down. he was probably by himself which is why he didnt come out or have somebody else come out to verify. this is also required by sears company policy
they would also need to maintain 100% video coverage on you per company policy.
If i recall they call their escalated customer service line the golden hotline. ive had prior convicted shoplifters (who we prosecuted) come back into our store make a scene when asked to leave call that number and get gift cards, it was fucking ridiculous.
good luck, and if theres anything you want to know pm me.

[paz9x]

Okay let me get this straight. I can have my friend idling in the getaway car outside, book it with expensive electronics, escape past the parking lot, and claim the alarm must be a mistake because I bought it even though I "lost" the receipt...hmm interesting.

no genius, its against sears policy for their LP associates to stop you outside the parking lot, its a safety issue (sears doesnt wnt to be sued by shoplifter or associate). i dont think they even allow physically stopping shoplifters anymore. the shoplifter has to consent to be taken.

[RedvsBlue]

I used to work at a Target near downtown Orlando, and although I didn't work in LP, I worked as a cart attendant (always near the front doors) and was called upon by LP when they needed an extra body to take somebody down (I'm a good sized fellow). The rules were explained to me as this, paraphrasing from what I remember:
(1) We must see somebody putting something in their pocket (you can't see a "lump" and just assume he has something hidden). We have to have to be 100% sure, because see #4.
(2) They must make an attempt to walk out the doors (you can put anything you want in your pocket, but as long as you stay in the store you're okay).
(3) Because of rule 2, employees can't approach the guest until he is OUTSIDE.
(4) Upon making it outside we are allowed to use ALL FORCE NECESSARY to bring them down, which usually means tackling him NFL style, face first into the concrete.

Now, in your case, you were not approached upon leaving, which as said above will likely get the LP kid fired.
(1) You were not caught leaving the store with merch.
(2) Employees can't accurately describe the merch (couldn't name a game).
(3) You weren't found with any of it on your person (you had no new games in your car).
(4) The security camera is all they have, and it won't have clear evidence obviously.
Sounds like an open and shut case for you. LP kid will get fired for wasting the cops time, and breaking the rules (getting your license plate is a BIG no-no).

I wouldn't be surprised if you never heard from the cops again. Of course that probably is no consolation, since you were publicly humiliated by some little jerk, but there probably isn't any legal recourse you can take against him. If I were you, I would ask for an apology from the store management, but leave it at that. It's always best to avoid the courts if possible.

Your entire post is so full of wrong.

[RedvsBlue]

How did they get your mom's phone number? Somebody's screwing with somebody, but let me use this to mention that I really, really hate cops.

Lets just put this straight, this whole situation is 100% Sears's fault. Whoever in LP called the police in the first place should be fired. I see people put cellphones and crap in their pockets ALL the time when they're acting shady and never once have I called PD or made a stop based on that alone, clearly that's what happened here/

[lukisha]

I think you should go over there with a gun and rob them for all of the games that they have. That will show them!!! And then burn the place down

[gokou36]

LoL hey idiot go ahead and tell the cops that and see what happens... I hate cops. SWAT raided my house, I called them every name in the book and ended up serving some time for something I didn't even do... This was with paying one of the supposed best lawyers in town over 27k... So I learned the hard way. Go ahead though and try it tough guy... Let your delusions of grandeur land you in same place I ended. You will find out quick you are nothing against "the man." You have to fight him covertly pal. The bill of rights is toilet paper. The pigs have ways around everyone of your supposed rights. I would have refused to cooperate myself but I don't mind being detained in a cell for a few hours. I don't how she would have felt about that.

Looks like you're the moron that got raided by SWAT. I bet not even a handful in this thread has gotten raided by SWAT, so you must've done something REALLY STUPID.


I used to work at a Target near downtown Orlando, and although I didn't work in LP, I worked as a cart attendant (always near the front doors) and was called upon by LP when they needed an extra body to take somebody down (I'm a good sized fellow). The rules were explained to me as this, paraphrasing from what I remember: (4) Upon making it outside we are allowed to use ALL FORCE NECESSARY to bring them down, which usually means tackling him NFL style, face first into the concrete.


Sorry but that is way wrong. They can sue you for injuries. Either you're bullshitting or someone lied to you.

[RamHawk]

Interesting story. I always just use a barcode sheet in Target and K-Mart. My Sears sucks so bad they don't even have games! Yeah, I get funny looks in Target but it beats taking a load of games to the scanner. I don't get funny looks at K-Mart b/c there is never an associate within 100 feet to ever help me. :)

You know how Wal-Mart and other places "check your receipt and bag" when you leave and want to look inside your bag? That is illegal search. Once you have purchased the item and it goes into your bag, it is yours and they can't look in it. Sure, if they want to ask they can do that but you are not required to let them look. Heh, the old door greeters will freak when you don't let them and just keep walking out. Nothing they can do. They can't even hold you (false imprisonment) unless they are an official police person. They can only call the cops and give a description and details. Sure, they can follow you off their property and ask you to leave and never come back but who cares or even get your car tag.

I too commend the OP for staying calm but I would have been insistent to ask the Police for their badge #'s, asked for the store manager or regional manager, etc.. The moment you can swing from being defensive to demanding, they will generally back off b/c they know you will "cause a scene". Yeah, I would have threatened a lawyer in there too. Last thing the LP person wants to do is get management involved.

[RamHawk]

Although it is such a bad idea, if I were you, I'd go back to the Sears and price check things just for the hell of it, but yell out loud what I was doing every time I picked something up/put something back. Just to be a douche.

LOL! Yeah, I think I would do the same.... until they asked me to leave and banned me from the store. :) Either way, it would be a nice plan.

[bg2001]

OP - I am an experienced lawyer and have an MBA, so I have pretty good understanding of both the legal and business sides of your issue. It NOT worth your time or effort to pursue any legal claims against the police or Sears. However, it IS worth your time to harass the *** out of Sears corporate. Mailing or e-mailing people as high up in the food chain as possible will actually get you some attention, and more likely than not, those people will go out of their way to make sure that the situation is fixed. Ask for compensation and if necessary, be pushy. Explain that you will never shop at Sears again. Explain that you will tell everyone you know not to shop at Sears. You will get something out of the process. Be mad, pushy, and persistent.

[RedvsBlue]

OP - I am an experienced lawyer and have an MBA, so I have pretty good understanding of both the legal and business sides of your issue. It NOT worth your time or effort to pursue any legal claims against the police or Sears. However, it IS worth your time to harass the *** out of Sears corporate. Mailing or e-mailing people as high up in the food chain as possible will actually get you some attention, and more likely than not, those people will go out of their way to make sure that the situation is fixed. Ask for compensation and if necessary, be pushy. Explain that you will never shop at Sears again. Explain that you will tell everyone you know not to shop at Sears. You will get something out of the process. Be mad, pushy, and persistent.

This ends thread.

[Friend of Sonic]

To the people saying the guy from Target is bullshitting, I'd agree if he was recently employeed by Target. I heard that back in the day-day, they used to use physical force. It all depends how old the poster is I guess.

[junglalien]

Looks like you're the moron that got raided by SWAT. I bet not even a handful in this thread has gotten raided by SWAT, so you must've done something REALLY STUPID.
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476

[gokou36]

http://www.cato.org/raidmap/

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476

And those links tell me what in your situation? Like I said, you must've done something really stupid for them to send you to jail for a few days. Sounds like to me you did something very wrong and don't want to say it. Either explain your situation or simply STFU.

[paz9x]

OP - I am an experienced lawyer and have an MBA, so I have pretty good understanding of both the legal and business sides of your issue. It NOT worth your time or effort to pursue any legal claims against the police or Sears. However, it IS worth your time to harass the *** out of Sears corporate. Mailing or e-mailing people as high up in the food chain as possible will actually get you some attention, and more likely than not, those people will go out of their way to make sure that the situation is fixed. Ask for compensation and if necessary, be pushy. Explain that you will never shop at Sears again. Explain that you will tell everyone you know not to shop at Sears. You will get something out of the process. Be mad, pushy, and persistent.

personally i would file suit. i might call that golden number i mentioned and see what type of response i got first but that kind of behavior by both sears and the police officers is unaccetable and it goes on because people dont do anything to make them behave otherwise.
i cant even articulate how angry id be if something like that happened to my wife.

edit - when you call them threaten suit if needed.

[scsg75]

To the people saying the guy from Target is bullshitting, I'd agree if he was recently employeed by Target. I heard that back in the day-day, they used to use physical force. It all depends how old the poster is I guess.

yeah, I worked at Target in the early 90's, LP would on occasion if the situation called for it, tackle shoplifters in the parking lot. Not the case anymore. They would call us floor sales guys for backup all the time in case the situation escalated to the use of physical force in order to restrain them until the cops could arrive.

[junglalien]

And those links tell me what in your situation? Like I said, you must've done something really stupid for them to send you to jail for a few days. Sounds like to me you did something very wrong and don't want to say it. Either explain your situation or simply STFU.

/facepalm

[gokou36]

/facepalm

Exactly what I expected from you.

[junglalien]

Exactly what I expected from you.

I found your pic boy

http://i41.tinypic.com/2127p95.jpg

[gokou36]

I found your pic boy

http://i41.tinypic.com/2127p95.jpg

You can stop trolling now.

[albino_hippo]

If you were a few years older, I doubt this whole thing would have happened.. Nice.

[help1]

Man, you kept your cool. I woulda been flipping out.

Actually no, cops make me a pansy. Who am I kidding?

[Link927]

Ah, sorry to hear about this OP, I too was accused of stealing a while back, and it does suck. Especially when the stores resort to calling in higher authority, I was held by some mall cops for a short while because the manager at the Suncoast accused me of stealing. I vowed never to shop their again, and was quite glad when that place shut down. (Of course, I did shop there once the 50%-70% clearnece hit >_>)

[finalrodzilla]

That sucks
I'm a loss prevention manager and the kid who works at Sears should be fired. My advice to you is call Sears corporate office and give them the details and tell them how embarrasing it was for you. I bet you end up with a gift card and the games you supposedly stole are yours for free. Don't worry you'll get your wish Sears will fire him!

I know alot of people that work LP at major chains like walmart, sears, Best Buy
and they are told to be hands off with thiefs. If they run they just let them go and get their plate and call the cops.
Just so you know don't steal from Sportsman's Warehouse where I work, we can chase any crooks we want and slam anyone uncooperative. A couple of months ago one of my employees stopped a crackhead for stealing a depth finder the guy ran into traffic and my employee chased him and pushed him in the back and the dudes momentum took him into oncoming traffic and crashing through a womans windshield -ooops, and somehow he still works with me , the videos angle doesn't show the push but instead the guy changing directions and giving a stinger splash to the car, LMAO.

We get to act like Walker cause we sell guns and are privately owned . DONT STEAL GUNS, lol I have a direct line to the FBI for that!

[gokou36]

That sucks
I'm a loss prevention manager and the kid who works at Sears should be fired. My advice to you is call Sears corporate office and give them the details and tell them how embarrasing it was for you. I bet you end up with a gift card and the games you supposedly stole are yours for free. Don't worry you'll get your wish Sears will fire him!

I know alot of people that work LP at major chains like walmart, sears, Best Buy
and they are told to be hands off with thiefs. If they run they just let them go and get their plate and call the cops.
Just so you know don't steal from Sportsman's Warehouse where I work, we can chase any crooks we want and slam anyone uncooperative. A couple of months ago one of my employees stopped a crackhead for stealing a depth finder the guy ran into traffic and my employee chased him and pushed him in the back and the dudes momentum took him into oncoming traffic and crashing through a womans windshield -ooops, and somehow he still works with me , the videos angle doesn't show the push but instead the guy changing directions and giving a stinger splash to the car, LMAO.

We get to act like Walker cause we sell guns and are privately owned . DONT STEAL GUNS, lol I have a direct line to the FBI for that!

Your situation is different though. Having possession of a gun without a license to carry it is illegal. I doubt he would win the case if he tried to sue you guys. Was he arrested and how many years did he get?

Does Sears or Walmart carry guns? I know Academy does.

[indieinsd]

Also work LP. Well use to... Damn Bankruptcy.... As for the hands off approach it depends on each retail store. I was trained in confrontation management where we had all sorts of locks, holds, and techniques used to implement during any hostile situation. I myself have been involved in MANY of these situations especially involving ORC (Organized Retail Crime) cases. Most large chains (we were one of the last to allow hands on) don't let the LP use force to restrain due to the large headache it cause at corporate.

As for OP, finalrodzilla has the right idea. Make a big stink at Sears corporate and you should get some stuff. The kid who called in the stop to the cops is probably fired already. NPI's (Non Productive Incident's) are a big issue in LP and if you get one where you go to the extent of calling it in to authorities then you should definitely be fired.

[strongpimphand]

....was it ever explained how his mom was called though???? that's just very random....

[DuelLadyS]

....was it ever explained how his mom was called though???? that's just very random....

Her name's probably on the car title/registry. Run plates-> get name-> get number.

[SaraAB]

yeah, I worked at Target in the early 90's, LP would on occasion if the situation called for it, tackle shoplifters in the parking lot. Not the case anymore. They would call us floor sales guys for backup all the time in case the situation escalated to the use of physical force in order to restrain them until the cops could arrive.

I believe it, when I worked in Kmart we were told that if there was a child missing in the store and we saw the child with an adult we were to do whatever we could to keep them in the store and to keep them from harming the child including using physical force, in fact that was highly recommended.

[slowdive21]

You know how Wal-Mart and other places "check your receipt and bag" when you leave and want to look inside your bag? That is illegal search. Once you have purchased the item and it goes into your bag, it is yours and they can't look in it. Sure, if they want to ask they can do that but you are not required to let them look. Heh, the old door greeters will freak when you don't let them and just keep walking out. Nothing they can do. They can't even hold you (false imprisonment) unless they are an official police person. They can only call the cops and give a description and details. Sure, they can follow you off their property and ask you to leave and never come back but who cares or even get your car tag.

I too commend the OP for staying calm but I would have been insistent to ask the Police for their badge #'s, asked for the store manager or regional manager, etc.. The moment you can swing from being defensive to demanding, they will generally back off b/c they know you will "cause a scene". Yeah, I would have threatened a lawyer in there too. Last thing the LP person wants to do is get management involved.

OP - it IS worth your time to harass the *** out of Sears corporate. Mailing or e-mailing people as high up in the food chain as possible will actually get you some attention, and more likely than not, those people will go out of their way to make sure that the situation is fixed. Ask for compensation and if necessary, be pushy. Explain that you will never shop at Sears again. Explain that you will tell everyone you know not to shop at Sears. You will get something out of the process. Be mad, pushy, and persistent.

I agree with these posts. You can visit the police department and file a formal complaint against the officers involved for their conduct.

I would write a letter to sears corporate (with the LP person's name or description, as well as any other employees involved, store manager, store number, date, time, etc) and send it with returned receipt delivery.

I would then call corporate if you do not hear anything within a week of mailing and reference the letter.

Do not make any threats or "I will do this, if you don't do this" statements.

You can also file a complaint against Sears at the BBB (I would wait until after they respond) and file a report with your state's attorney general.

[SirSavesALot]

any update on your decision?

[crashlanded1983]

I did not read threw a lot of this thread.There are good cops ,a lot of them are dicks.There trying to prove that your guilty.It might of been best to not even call them back. It's on the state to prove that your guilty,the wrong cop might be on a power trip and arrest you just b.c he thinks that your talking crap to him.

[GameBoyee]

lol So you're 11 years old?

Nope 13.It was in Novemeber of 2005

[kirkblitz]

why did u even talk to them? You should have not said a WORD, you should have told them you wanted a lawyer for questioning and that's that. They clearly have no evidence (assuming u didn't steal anything), as well you should file a complaint on the officers for being dicks.

[hopeunknown]

I sent their email customer service AND their CEO copies of this email. Since it's been 6 days since the incident, I felt it necessary to detail things. Lengthy, but I think it needed to be. I will post their response. I x'ed out some things for my own privacy.


Hello, my name is (my name), and on Monday, January 12th, 2009, I was falsely accused of shoplifting by your loss prevention associate in the Sears location in the Dartmouth Mall in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Please let me explain my story in detail for you:

On the Friday prior (January 16th), I stopped in your store to see if there were any copies of Animal Crossing: Wild World for Wii in stock that could be price matched to a sale that was on your company’s affiliate K-Mart site, which was out of stock. Unfortunately, there were no copies I could see in the glass case where games are kept. I did, however, go check out some games that were in a cardboard shipper display and price checked several of them at the self-price check scanner a few aisles over. I went back and forth several times, as there were no available associates to price check games for me, and ended up purchasing $25 in clearance games that were ringing up at $0.97 and were not stickered as such prices (hence, why I scanned them).

So, on the Monday following, I decided to stop in the store again as my friend was interested in a copy of Picross for the Nintendo DS I had picked up on Friday for $4.97 (also unstickered but ringing up at that price) from the same store, and there were two copies left. One of the copies looked as though a box cutter had gotten to the spine edge, and after having worked myself at both Suncoast and Gamestop in the past, I know that can easily happen when an associate opens a shipment box that has no padding on top of the product with a box cutter. So, since it was damaged (the cover art had a cut in it, and some of the shrink wrap was falling off) I decided not to purchase it. I scanned several more games that I did not decide on getting. Since my only purpose of going to the store (and the mall, since I was there on Friday) was to check and see if they still had the game in stock, I decided to leave and check out your Swansea Mall Sears location to see if they had any other games. So I put the games back in the cardboard shipper, where there were two female employees talking to a manager right next to me, and went on my way out.

After I went to your Swansea store (which is a half hour away), which all the clearance games were labeled correctly and in a metal bin in the center aisle, and another store near the Swansea Mall, I decided to head back home to my apartment in xxxxxxxx (which, you will see the address listed when I send this to you). As I was about to go to Target in Dartmouth and pick up some food, I received a call from my mother saying the Dartmouth Police had called my home. Apparently, someone had followed me out of Sears, wrote down my car’s license plate numbers, called the police department, who then called my house (where my car is registered), and in turn, my mom called me to call the police station. So I did, wondering why they would be calling me. Apparently I was accused of shoplifting, which confused me quite a bit. I ended up parking in the Sears parking lot at the Dartmouth Mall (as it was on my way to Target anyways), and then two police cruisers pulled up next to me.

Upon their arrival, I was immediately met with an officer who, rather aggressively, asked me “do you want to tell me about the three video games you stole?” where I immediately responded “I don’t know what you are talking about, officer.” He proceeded to tell me that upon me scanning several games at the self-price check scanner (which was in a messy area with cardboard boxes all over the floor, I might add) that I supposedly put three games in my pocket (which is physically impossible) and walked out the door right after. All I could think is that I had my cell phone on top of the pile (which is a T-Mobile G1 phone, I have the black model that has a purple case on it, but several parts of the black, such as the screen, back of the screen, slide out keypad and call/end call/home/etc buttons are black) and I had checked either my email or text messages while looking at the games and then put it back in my pocket (where I normally keep it) once I put the games back. So I explained to the officer and showed him my phone, and also pulled out everything I had in my pockets (being my keys, some papers, some change and a $5 bill), and the even offered the officers to look through my purse, my car, anything they wanted I would certainly oblige to as I was innocent. They did not, however, they still held on to that I “put something black and square shaped in my pocket” but would not specify what title, what details, etc. because I obviously “stole” my own cell phone I walked in with! So I offered to show the police officer where I put the games back in the store.

As we walk through the store, mind you, I am completely mortified and humiliated by being spoken to like I was a delinquent teenager, I see several of the female associates who were standing right next to me the whole time I went to the price scanner. We were then met with the loss prevention associate who accused me of stealing these three games. I showed them exactly where I put the games back in the cardboard shipper. The three games I supposedly “stole” were two copies of Picross for Nintendo DS(one being the one with the box cutter slash in it, which I handed to the loss prevention associate) and one copy of Assassin’s Creed for Nintendo DS. The officer then claimed I was “lying” and had to “enhance the video” of the security footage but refused to let me see the footage, which would clearly show me holding my cell phone and putting that in my pocket. We then went out the door back out to my car (where the loss prevention associate actually left the store holding the slashed Picross game) and then the officer took down my information (the exact information I’m giving you – xxxxx – xxxxx my cell) and said he would contact me in a couple days. He then let me go and I never heard back.

So, this being Sunday, January 18th, six days later, I have neither heard back from the police station nor received an apology from your store. Clearly the footage showed me with my cell phone. I suggest you view the tape and also view the tape of when I was there on Friday the 12th doing the same exact thing, with my same exact phone in my pocket and me using it several times. I have the receipt from that transaction with the salescheck #xxx tran#xxx pg/store xxx reg# xxx assoc#xxx. The associate that was at that register was a girl with dark hair in a ponytail who had hoop earrings I believe and answered the phone while I was ringing out. I can show you every game I price checked and where I put it back. I’m not sure if your price checkers take a log of all the games that are scanned in it, but I suggest getting that and checking it against your inventory. Nothing is missing.

In all of this, I believe your loss prevention associate should be fired and your training for these employees should be reconsidered. I know the “hand in pocket” move can sometimes be suspicious, but as someone who worked in retail before (as previously mentioned) you need to have hard evidence that the person you suspect of committing a shoplifting crime is actually taking something. Your loss prevention team clearly did not review the tape nor properly see that I had my cell phone on top of the games I was looking at. Clearly they just made an assumption and unfortunately on their (and your) behalf it was a bad call. Now after posting this incident in detail on several forums (one of which has over 6,000 views and near 200 replies), several former Sears or other loss prevention employees have posted that “false stops” like these often result in termination and, ultimately, cost the store and the company money and loss of customers. At my previous job, we usually had mall security do a walk through if we felt a customer were suspicious. Your loss prevention associate made no effort to stop me, and actually followed me to my car. To me, as a 21 year old female, that is scary and uncalled for. For all I know, your loss prevention associate may have used this as a scheme to get my personal information. I am afraid to even enter your store or even the mall now!

This loss prevention associate was about in his 20s, he was wearing a red sweater and khaki pants, blonde hair, I would say about 5’8” or so. I know loss prevention associates are supposed to look like every day customers (my friend worked as one in JC Penney in the Galleria Mall in Taunton, MA, where I worked at said Gamestop and said Suncoast previously), and since he didn’t have a name tag, I didn’t catch his name.

Frankly, I think your company should view the thread and the experiences other members of the forum Cheap Ass Gamer (a forum for bargain-hunting video gamers, which many look for clearance deals at Sears in the same fashion I did – scan at the self-check scanners because sales associates often are not around or are not willing do it). A lot of users do not even want to utilize your stores’ price check scanners any more. Who can blame them, when you are just looked at as a thief for checking a price on a product that is probably not marked correctly or up-to-date. The link to my post (my username is hopeunknown) is here: (this thread) I wrote that entire thing right as I got home from the whole incident. Needless to say, I was quite angry. It angered many other members of the community as well, as you will read.

Overall, I was deeply embarrassed and humiliated by the whole ordeal. Imagine yourself in my shoes. Would you ever want anyone to shop at Sears again, after being falsely accused of stealing things you were merely checking prices of, surrounded in your car in a mall parking lot as if you are some sort of drug dealer-calibur criminal? I don’t think you would.

I would like to know what you can do for me and what your company plans on doing about the situation. I am seriously considering getting some legal advice about this.

Thank you for your time. I hope to hear back from Sears soon.

- (my name)

[Squarehard]

Sue their asses off! Take em to the cleaners! It's only Sears anyways. My sears never even has any games ever!

I mean I can understand being cautious, and maybe asking you about the incident instead of flat out accusing you of stealing. That is just retarded and bad for business. TO THE CLEANERS!

Good luck.

[Nathan_Sama]

"The letter"
You're probably gonna get a gift card or something :lol:
Very well written!

[bones56]

Glad things worked out for you. Odd though everything happened this way.

[hopeunknown]

You're probably gonna get a gift card or something :lol:
Very well written!

Haha, I try to put to use my college education in some ways. :lol: Despite being a graphic design major! I am pretty stupefied when peer editing people's resumes though. Beautiful design can't salvage poor grammar. Bleh. Though I'm a comma-abuser.

Hopefully something comes of it. If not, I'm going to have to call 'em up, despite being awful at verbally describing things/telling stories. (And I worked two call center customer service jobs, wow. I sound like I get fired all the time but that's not the case. Damn school/traveling distances. Though I've been voluntarily jobless since Sept and it's been wonderful. :booty:)

[hopeunknown]

So I got this canned reply:

Dear (my name),

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding your experience with
one of our stores. We are always interested in hearing from our
customers, and regret it was this type of situation that prompted you to
contact us. We apologize for the inconvenience you have encountered at
our Dartmouth Mall location.

We have forwarded your message to the Store Coach. They will contact
you within two (2) business days.

Once again, we apologize and we thank you for contacting us.




Sincerely,
Jennifer W.,
National Customer Relations
Sears Holdings Corporation



Let's see if anything comes of it. If not, they're getting an unhappy phone call. Chances are I'd probably be talking to someone in India who doesn't care or won't do anything about it.

[Redeema]

Not for nothing, but you probably should have not mentioned that you were basically clearance shopping. It might appear to them as though they wouldn't be losing much of a customer. Devil customer ring a bell.

I think you should have been detailed without being so detailed that they really feel no need to do a single thing for you. Just my opinion. Otherwise, I do feel bad for the mess some jackass put you through. I used to work at Sears and I can't even remember being friendly with LP, heck, I'm not even sure if they ate in our breakroom.

[CloverField06]

I think you would get a better result if you mail an actual letter.

[hopeunknown]

Not for nothing, but you probably should have not mentioned that you were basically clearance shopping. It might appear to them as though they wouldn't be losing much of a customer. Devil customer ring a bell.

I think it needs to be said, as why else would I have been ringing up the price of games? If things were correctly priced in the store, none of this would've happened. Compared to the stores in Swansea and Taunton (the two closest stores to Dartmouth), the Dartmouth store is messy, has unattentive employees, and doesn't have a clearance/$19.99 and under bin like the other two stores do. Not to mention a large pile of cardboard boxes (cut and flattened) were in front of the price scanner, making it difficult to scan games a bit. Basically, I made the point that this store is not well managed, as it appears to me the customer. Especially when one of the managers were yelling at one of the girls for misinterpreting something, and none of them offered to help me. Just a "how are you?" once while I was placing games back in the shipper. Clearly none of this would've happened, again, if the employees actually did their job right.

[galvatron2k1]

I think you would get a better result if you mail an actual letter.

This. Very well written, but if I were you, I would print a copy or 2 and send it to them as well. Not sure what address you can use for their corporate offices, but I'm sure you can find that. Written letters seem to grab people's attention and besides, why not light a fire under some other people's asses while you are at it? LOL, the store coach will call you. It's a start, but unless he is a very high level manager for that store, I doubt I'd even want to talk to him/her except to ask for their manager. Good luck, seems like you are on the right track.

[Squarehard]

I think it needs to be said, as why else would I have been ringing up the price of games? If things were correctly priced in the store, none of this would've happened. Compared to the stores in Swansea and Taunton (the two closest stores to Dartmouth), the Dartmouth store is messy, has unattentive employees, and doesn't have a clearance/$19.99 and under bin like the other two stores do. Not to mention a large pile of cardboard boxes (cut and flattened) were in front of the price scanner, making it difficult to scan games a bit. Basically, I made the point that this store is not well managed, as it appears to me the customer. Especially when one of the managers were yelling at one of the girls for misinterpreting something, and none of them offered to help me. Just a "how are you?" once while I was placing games back in the shipper. Clearly none of this would've happened, again, if the employees actually did their job right.

They are getting yelled at by corporate now, so the store management team is now going to be your bitch, lol! Best of luck on their resolve.

[Link927]

Haha, I try to put to use my college education in some ways. :lol: Despite being a graphic design major! I am pretty stupefied when peer editing people's resumes though. Beautiful design can't salvage poor grammar. Bleh. Though I'm a comma-abuser.


My housemate is an English Major, and I've never seen him write anything half this good XD Then again, he's always writing about how this 18th Century Victorian author created this so-and-so character and how she resembles some empowerment over mankind, so I suppose this letter was geared towards my interest more :lol:

Well, in any case, good luck with getting a resolution on the matter.

[AceSXE]

If you need to respond to them again because nothing is coming of the letters, and you have to make your unhappy phone call make sure you drive home the point that you are highly considering getting legal advice for this. Pound it into there mind that if they dont do something about it then you will. :D

[hopeunknown]

All I really want out of this is some sincere apology and the realization that they fucked up. And the assurance I can walk into Sears and be treated as a customer and not some assumed delinquent "young person" that needs to be watched like a hawk for no reason. Or even just browse for christsakes.

[addicted2games]

This is an unfortunate and interesting topic, OP. Look forward to Sears's response.

[Redeema]

I think it needs to be said, as why else would I have been ringing up the price of games? If things were correctly priced in the store, none of this would've happened. Compared to the stores in Swansea and Taunton (the two closest stores to Dartmouth), the Dartmouth store is messy, has unattentive employees, and doesn't have a clearance/$19.99 and under bin like the other two stores do. Not to mention a large pile of cardboard boxes (cut and flattened) were in front of the price scanner, making it difficult to scan games a bit. Basically, I made the point that this store is not well managed, as it appears to me the customer. Especially when one of the managers were yelling at one of the girls for misinterpreting something, and none of them offered to help me. Just a "how are you?" once while I was placing games back in the shipper. Clearly none of this would've happened, again, if the employees actually did their job right.

I think you could make the point the same way by mentioning that you were verifying prices as you've found discrepancies in the past, particularly at this store. I still think that while you'd wish that these stores were customer oriented that the bottom line is that they only care about the money you're pumping into said store. In this case what you're putting in there isn't a tremendous amount, so, while I'm making a generalization, they could care less about your money since it's change in their ashtray. They'd get rid of that clearance merchandise regardless. I'm only making this point because they would be far more sympathetic to a loyal and valued shopper who did more than scour the clearance section. Granted, I don't know your history with them, but they could look all that up since they've now got your information from the receipt numbers you provided presuming you're not paying cash every single time. Again, I'm on your side, but sometimes being the slightest bit vague can help your situation and it's my opinion this might be one of those.

[hopeunknown]

I think you could make the point the same way by mentioning that you were verifying prices as you've found discrepancies in the past, particularly at this store. I still think that while you'd wish that these stores were customer oriented that the bottom line is that they only care about the money you're pumping into said store. In this case what you're putting in there isn't a tremendous amount, so, while I'm making a generalization, they could care less about your money since it's change in their ashtray. They'd get rid of that clearance merchandise regardless. I'm only making this point because they would be far more sympathetic to a loyal and valued shopper who did more than scour the clearance section. Granted, I don't know your history with them, but they could look all that up since they've now got your information from the receipt numbers you provided presuming you're not paying cash every single time. Again, I'm on your side, but sometimes being the slightest bit vague can help your situation and it's my opinion this might be one of those.

I see your point. But on that Friday I spent $25 on games that otherwise probably would've gone unsold. I would've spent more had there been Animal Crossing: WW in stock (my original intent, as Best Buy accross the street couldn't pull up the K-Mart site), regardless, I spent money there two days before this happened.

[Kreutz]

This is actually rather amusing. And terribly crappy for you. Assuming that you did not steal, as you say, then I'd like to offer my perspective (Incidently, I am a Loss Prevention Manager for a Sears store in Texas).

Unfortunately, I cannot divulge policies here, but from the sounds of, the detective responsible has committed the gravest mistake for Sears LP: an NPD. This type of bad stop almost always results in the termination of the detective. The training programs for apprehending shoplifters are very strict and cover "bad stops" in full detail. Apprehnsion certification stresses the importance of following proper guidelines to prevent "bad stops" from ocurring. Strictly speaking, a bad stop cannot occur if ALL apprehension guidelines are followed. Thus, either the detective neglected to follow a step, or his own bias caused him to err on the side of an attempted apprehension.

I am sorry this has happened to you. I certainly do not condone what this detective has done. A formal complaint, via phone or email, is all you need to do to ensure that something will happen in this case. Sears does not take "bad stops" lightly. It may take time to resolve this, as district and regional level management are often required to review case materials and interview the detective in question, but everything will be taken care of professionally from Sears' end. As for the local law enforcement.... All I can say about them is that they are often complete asshats and always default to blaming the suspect, at least from my experience.

Good luck.

[neophile]

The games were obviously stolen by one or more of their employees. This type of thing happens all the time, and for years. People work at these stores and rip them off in different ways, then disappear.

[simpleblur]

This sounds like a post for The Consumerist (http://consumerist.com), they're a consumer rights website.

[NovaKane]

I hope everything turns out alright. Bein' accused of stealin' is a horrible feelin'.

One time I was accused of stealin' a key (to the register I think) when I was mad young in a women's store while with my mother. All I was doin' was sittin' on a bench near the register while my mother tried stuff on (man I HATED waitin' in those places as a kid lol), and the lady at the register is lookin' for some damn key.

She looks all around the register and happens to see me sittin' nearby. Then asks me did I take the key? I'm lookin' at her like WTF. I said no and she didn't believe me. Long story short, I think she called security over makin' a big fuss about it, but when my mother came out the dresser...OOOOOOOOOH SHIT! She ripped that lady a new one LMFAO!

Good luck OP.

[Cmosfm]

I know sooner or later this is going to happen to me, as I tend to linger around game sections longer than usual checking stuff out on my phone. I can just hope that it doesn't, and hope that if it does, not to the extent that you are going through. I wish you the best, I'd probably brush it off, but calling a lawyer isn't a bad idea.

[pika23]

I have to echo others sentiments on the Sears employees always being ZOMG shoplifter!!!11!!!1111. I got a weird vibe from them about 5 months ago or so. I used to love Sears til about 8 years ago, when they became asses with hats.

I remember at Blockbuster we could not chase them out of the store, but if we saw them physically put something in their bag, we had to call the cops and sort of stall the thief or whatever til the cops came. If they just ran out then we would give the cops the security tape, and go to court to point out the suspect.

[msuna]

sucks

[FlamingMoogles]

haha its great to know that the police are doing things like this and not actually protecting people like they should be. I mean if this is what they spend their time on i'm sure there are people out there murdering and raping and getting away with it.

[MERK3D_U]

Haha, well I'm taken, so I'm good. Being accused of a crime = you suck at flirting hahaha. :lol:

Isn't how they did it in the old days...