Couple's Daughter Taken Away for 18 Hours Over Alleged Sandwich Theft

Utterly ridiculous. I went over to their Facebook company page and they are getting bombarded with negative comments, rightly so in my opinion. When it hurts their bottom sales line then maybe they will treat the customers like real people.

Originally posted by jjkenobi
Utterly ridiculous. I went over to their Facebook company page and they are getting bombarded with negative comments, rightly so in my opinion. When it hurts their bottom sales line then maybe they will treat the customers like real people.

The store manager had no idea the child would be taken away..and what about the respect for the store?

One of them could have gone to the quick checkout while the other continued to shop.. and considering they didn't..maybe they needed to be a little more careful in remembering to pay for them.

Just saying..they had their chance to pay before they ate the sandwiches....and had the chance to pay before they left.. where is the respect in that?

Those $5.00 sandwichs ($10.00 total) just cost the American taxpayers about $500.00. Good work Safeway. The cops were pulled away from possible serious crimes, DHS was taken away from helping an abused child and a foster parent was used for a miscelaneous situation when they could be housing a true child in need.

This is a case of where the punishment did not fit the "crime".

Shoplifting:

Hawaii has different scales as far as the severity of the shoplifting offense. If the value stolen exceeds $300, it is a class C felony. If the value falls between $100 and $300, it is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to three times the value of what was stolen. Any value under $100 is a petty misdemeanor with a fine of up to two times the value of the stolen property. If the offender has a previous shoplifting conviction on her record, all fines are doubled.

I realize the actual guilty verdict isn't in yet but the fact a child was removed and place in foster custody in itself is extreme. The manager doesn't have to know the outcome. He could have assesed the situation and gotten the money owed for the sandwiches and maybe placed the couple on a "watch" list for future reference. I personally once walked out of a store without paying for a soda I had gotten and drank while shopping. When I realized it before getting to my vehicle, I went back in and paid. It would have really sh#y if I would have gotten arrested for that soda. Especially since I am not a thief and have no record.


Read more: Hawaii Theft Laws | eHow.com www.ehow.com...

Originally posted by jjkenobi
Utterly ridiculous. I went over to their Facebook company page and they are getting bombarded with negative comments, rightly so in my opinion. When it hurts their bottom sales line then maybe they will treat the customers like real people.

Its not Safeway's fault, the manager was just doing his job. Everyone who gets caught stealing says the same thing "I was going to pay for it, why cant I just pay for it now". Well after you walk out the doors it is too damn late. If the manager didnt act, then everyone would be stealing by keeping the wrapper in their cart and just saying they mistakenly forgot to pay. Where do you draw the line?

However the police should have just issued a ticket and let them go on their way. I dont know the whole story but maybe they had prior warrents or this wasnt their first offense.

Since they were self loading the cart, they will need to explain how they missed the wrappers which, as they phrased it sort of as not trying to conceal anything. And, it is not just one adult who missed them, but both helping so how do they explain how both missed the wrappers? I understand that things may get crazy at check out with a kid but they were both there, presumably no longer light headed and could think clearly...and remember what they were doing and what they wanted to remember to do. As for the idea that they would not shoplift after spending $50, I remind you of Robert Durst - the millionaire with $500 in his pocket (and a whole lot more with his family) who was caught shoplifting a sandwich, a newspaper and a bandaid.

Stealing is stealing.

The second you exit the store without paying for all the goods, you are stealing. The store manager has no choice over what course of action to take. Company policy requires him to report it to the police.

It was the police who chose to arrest them, not the store manager. The store manager is getting reamed out by the "internet", for simply doing his job.

They 'forgot' to pay, and 'offered to pay' once caught, is a common theme about shoplifters. Sorry, but the managers actions were entirely appropriate in my opinion.

Safeway has issued an updated statement about our story about a Makiki couple who was arrested over a $5 sandwich. Safeway says "it appears we may not have handled this matter in the best possible way and we are taking the situation seriously." The couple had their three-year-old child taken into state custody after they were both arrested.

www.khon2.com...

Looks like it was only one $5.00 sandwich.

I have had grocery store clerks scan my coupons before and then set them aside even though they didn't scan and beep. Once it was a 9.00 free coffee coupon. The cashier put it in the slot and would not give me credit for it because she said she already had. When I paid and it was not on the reciept, she said I'd have to take it up with the manager. It took me a good 30 minutes.

Wonder if I could get the store arrested for stealing when that happens? Or attempted theft? Or am I supposed to show due diligence and be nice and explain things and listen and get it worked out so we are all happy?

Why is everything a one way street where business is concerned in this country?

I found htis Walmart policy on petty theft quite interesting:

"If I have somebody being paid $12 an hour processing a $5 theft, I have just lost money," said J.P. Suarez, Wal-Mart's top executive for asset protection, in an interview with the New York Times. "I have also lost the time to catch somebody stealing $100 or an organized group stealing $3,000."

www.buzzle.com...
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I don't agree with it but it's not my company as I believe they should be prosecuted, as in a citation.

The store should have made them pay for the sandwich. If they didn't pay for the sandwich then they should have taken further action.

Calling the police over a $5 sandwich, when they could have paid for it is way too overboard.

Policies are stupid because not every situation is the same.

reply to post by mnmcandiez


From what I have read though not officially confirmed, the police did not want to make the arrest but the manager of that particular Safeway store made a citizens arrest and pressed for their arrest. I don't care what anyone says, the store manager had a choice. I have read of incidents where managers of Safeway at their own discretion let "thieves" walk with a warning.

Originally posted by Gridrebel
reply to post by mnmcandiez

 

From what I have read though not officially confirmed, the police did not want to make the arrest but the manager of that particular Safeway store made a citizens arrest and pressed for their arrest. I don't care what anyone says, the store manager had a choice. I have read of incidents where managers of Safeway at their own discretion let "thieves" walk with a warning.

If thats true..that does put a different slant on the story..considering the original article said the manager had no idea the child would be taken away..

He must have had some knowledge of how the police deal with the procedure of an arrest..considering he has most likely dealt with this type of scenario before..

Originally posted by BMorris
Stealing is stealing.

The second you exit the store without paying for all the goods, you are stealing. The store manager has no choice over what course of action to take. Company policy requires him to report it to the police.

It was the police who chose to arrest them, not the store manager. The store manager is getting reamed out by the "internet", for simply doing his job.

They 'forgot' to pay, and 'offered to pay' once caught, is a common theme about shoplifters. Sorry, but the managers actions were entirely appropriate in my opinion.

When humanity stopped giving each other the benefit of the doubt, and having a little bit of faith in ones goodness - we lost.

Stealing is NOT always stealing, sometimes it's my child picked up a candy bar while I was checking out and I didn't know.

Sometimes it's I forgot this item was in my cart.

Get out of that mentality because it's what ruins the spirit of this community.

The crime of removing the 3-yr old girl from her family far outweighs the crime of removing $5.00 worth of goods from the store.

The next time I am overcharged $5.00, I will summon the police and demand jailtime for the checkout person, and will seek overnight custody of the store's newest employee.

one question :

where was the packageing for the eaten sandwich when they went through the checkout ?

Stores should post signs (more than one) stating that consumption before purchase is considered shoplifting and will be prosecuted.

People really shouldn't be consuming products before purchase anyway.

This shows how useless our world has become.

In fact, if it were an actual thief stealing the sandwich, and they offered to pay for it, I would accept and forgive. Because we sure as hell know that if he ends up in jail, he is not taking responsibility and only costing people more money by housing him....

Originally posted by Evasius
The crime of removing the 3-yr old girl from her family far outweighs the crime of removing $5.00 worth of goods from the store.

The next time I am overcharged $5.00, I will summon the police and demand jailtime for the checkout person, and will seek overnight custody of the store's newest employee.

Semantics... Unfortunately, only matters if a person of the public is getting screwed. Be it a corporation, and somehow the same act is completely different.

reply to post by CaptainKostr


are people so fooking stupid that they actually need to be told to pay for stuff ?

reply to post by jjkenobi


link to their FB company page . i want to blast them from australia. I think Safeways may own one of our supermarkets chain ..Woolworths. Im going to boycott woolies too