I used to shoplift a ton of times. When i was 15, i jacked about $13 bucks worth of fireworks at a tent. I paid for just one so it wouldnt look suspicious. But it turns out one of the people working there was an undercover cop. He says "wanna come here for a sec" then he raises his shirt and i see a badge on his waist. Then he asks "were you stealing?" i knew i was hit so i just said yeah. Then he calls a uniform cop to pick me up and talks to my sister thats waiting in the car. They couldnt get a hold of my parents, so the uniform cop said "yup your goin to jail" and just like everyone when they put on the handcuffs i look down in shame and say "fuckk!" On the way there i had a good conversation with the cop and he just said "dont get caught again, Theft and drugs will get worse everytime time you repeat". Then a couple hours later my parents picked me up and were pretty pissed. A couple weeks later they called the cops on me because i was out at 1 in the AM. Then court: i just first had a meeting with a probation officer where she asked a bunch of personal irrelevant questions. She even mentioned they could just give me a warning and my dumbass stepdad said "I think he should see a judge". So about a month later i had to see a judge. I didnt know what to say and shit my stepdad said "Tell him you want to represent yourself" and i did. (Lookin back i think its stupid i didnt at least get a public defender). So the judge just asked for my side of the story, then gave me a choice of a $300 fine or 75 hours of community service. I chose the fine. I never had to see my PO again, i guess i was kinda on unsupervised probation, they said dont get in trouble for a year. I was a minor at the time, so it was really nothin. If its your first offense, youll probably just get a fine. Possibly probation, if you bullshit them about the weed, cuz you dont wanna get piss tested. Worst case scenario: a little jail time, write an apology letter, community service, fine and probation. So just be ready for the worst, which i doubt will happen. But good luck!
Thanks for the informative post. I think it's best I just represent myself and be honest and tell them the story because lawyer fees will be expensive and they have video proof of me doing it. There's no hiding it. The cop was a bit of an asshole and questioning me about drugs but I said it was just weed. And the way he explained it, I feel pretty confident that I'll just receive what he said; diversion and maybe some fines. Nothing too too serious
I got caught shoplifting at Walmart when I was 18. A friend and I were taking about $700 worth of items. We went to court the next morning. It was our first offences, so we both got a $300 fine and had to split the cost of restitution to Walmart.
I'm pretty sure you can't get diversion or the one free expungement for any theft charge. I have a posession of alcohol under 21 and misdemeanor theft, and my lawyer told me that you can't use the one free pass on the theft, but can on the alcohol. don't know if it's state by state though.
They stuck me in diversion here in Florida at 18 for assult and battery charges that was going to originally be a felony (long story I didn't even hurt anyone) but I went to like 2 weeks of classes and was like "fuck this send me to jail or court or whatever" and I signed my self out of the program. Never got anything in the mail. My records come up as it was exsponged. Awesome Opossum
Walmart doesn't have cameras in the bathroom. I worked there for years unfortunately and got to see behind every door as the maintenence guy. They have loss prevention guys who are trained to spot weird behavior. There is a blind spot in every dogfood isle of Walmart. They never get those guys because of the faulty design of that area. What they do do however is keep a record for 2 years on file of every recepit, which they can pull up at any time for two years, so all your purchases are stored by date in the server room, which is in the back and has a shit ton of paperwork falling out onto the floor constantly. Their servers also keep 12-14 months of video footage on file which can also be pulled up at will. I've seen and used both of these features when I worked there for various reasons. Walmart prosecutes, but they moved away from the whole tackle the criminal mentality after they got sued for assault many times. Was there when that happened too.....anyways, diversion will be a slap on the wrist, some public humiliation via community service and it should be expunged. Expect a fine.
Yeah, loss prevention guys are pretty smart and well trained... When I was a minor, I used to shoplift alot (not proud of it) and got caught a few times. I guess I just looked generally sketchy. Think they can really tell by your eyes though. Theres just a way you look at people when you're doing something you know you shouldn't. Plus almost everywhere in 2013 has good high end cameras.
My son got caught shoplifting from wally world when he was 18. 5 days in jail and today he pays for everything. If you are a minor then yes they will give you diversion. DON'T STEAL. Don't let it happen again. We all learn from our mistakes. I did it too.
How they get you is they have sensor detectors at the bathroom entrance, so if somethings in its package when you go in there it will set it off. Im surprised though that they got your plate and shit. This reminds me when i was like 18 i used to jack shit all the time. One time i put on a cap and jacked 5 spray cans from wally world, it was pretty easy the way i came up with. walked in with a walmart bag in the pocket, put the cans in it and walked out the front door and a half mile back to my house. Im surprised they didnt think i was sketch af but i was in there maybe 4 minutes and gtfo. I used to get drunk there because the cameras couldnt see the drink isle, which was like a little corner. so id chug a wine bottle and head out to a football game.
Well, go and talk to the judge; say how badly you fucked up and mean it then see what she offers you is what I'd do. I'm sure she can get you a way to keep this off your record.
I really don't blame you for stealing from Wal-Mart. I used to steal shit from there all the time just for the hell of it. My girlfriend used to come along and I would sneak shit into her big purse and then we would dip fast. However on my 18th birthday I was done, I took advantage of being a juvenile while I could. I feel like Wal-Mart has stolen the livelihood of so many small businesses that I was doing nothing wrong. I actually feel worse when I go there and pay for my shit these days. Its the only business I have ever stolen from and probably one of the few I could steal from without feeling like a thieving piece of shit.
Since my court date is so far in the summer do any of you think that they might just not show up? They didn't with my sister but theft compared to a speeding ticket is a lot worse
oh man that sucks OP...hopefully this will help you get over your thieving ways haha i was a dumb kid, i may or may not have shoplifted a few wally world's in my day. haha i accidentally stole a drink from the grocery store yesterday, i grabbed it and went looking for my friends who were buying beer. i grabbed a lemonade out of the cooler aisle and decided to wait for my buds outside. it never even crossed my mind that i had the lemonade in my hand until i opened it outside haha.
I had to to it a couple years ago but I moved states right before I started it depending how much you stole you'll have to pay $450 and 25 hours of community service and if you get. In trouble with the police in the next 2 years it goes on your record
Your looking at about 25 to life Jk, there's a chance it might be dismissed but as far as punishments go its either community service, a fine, or the worst is probation Sent from my Nokia 3310 using Grasscity Mobile Forum app