Shoplifting In The News

I've seen a couple notable shoplifting items in the news lately. One, reported by Radley Balko, was about a couple apprehended at a Safeway in Hawaii and accused of eating two sandwiches without paying for them. The intent of Radley's bringing it up was to expose what seemed to be heavy handed tactics by Safeway management and law enforcement.

It was interesting to see the comments center more on whether the couple intended to eat without paying, although most seemed to think the matter might have been blown out of proportion by all parties. I've since read that Safeway won't be following through with prosecution. Only the couple knows for sure whether it was simply an oversight not paying for the sandwiches.

Next we have State Assemblygal Mary Hayashi who got caught leaving a Neiman Marcus store without paying for over $2000.00 worth of clothes. She also claims it was an oversight and that she had intended to pay for the items.

I'll try to withhold judgment but you have to admit the fact she brought at least one Neiman Marcus shopping bag to the store with her, went into a change room and put the items in question into that bag in the changing room certainly doesn't look good.

Regardless of how Hayashi's case is adjudicated, I'll bet she won't let that happen again. I know I didn't.

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I actually had a short lived career as a shoplifter when I was around 6 or 7 years old. I'll blame it on a guy who later on turned out to be my best friend for a while. I don't know if he ever got caught. I did.

It started out one day in Tustin, CA back in the '60s. I was riding my bike around town and stopped by a small local drugstore. Just as I pulled up an acquaintance, the late Doug J., came out of the store. As he walked toward me he proudly pulled a huge Hershey bar out from inside his pants.

I didn't make the connection with him pulling it out of his pants, I just asked, "How'd you get that?"- us young kids never having enough money to buy a big bar like that- He replied, "I kiped it". Me: "Kiped it? What's that mean?". He says, "Here. I'll show you".

I follow him back inside the drugstore and he goes over to the candy rack. Stands there, looks around and when he thinks no one is looking, grabs another large candy bar and stuffs it inside his pants. We walked out the store and I was amazed. Wow! All the candy you want and not having to pay for it.

I immediately went back inside the store and kiped my own candy bar. I was hooked.

I soon showed a few other friends how to do it and, while I don't remember most of the specific details, I'm sure we raised hell amongst the stores for at least a month or so...until I got caught.

Some friends, Steve and Brian, and I went to the small store next to the original drug store where it all started. I think the small store was called Tiny Tim's- a small mom and pop type store that sold a little of everything kind of like a Circle K. We went on a shoplifting rampage, mostly focusing on toys.

Of special interest were some small stamped metal, double barreled cap guns and the caps we could use with them. We got a whole bunch. That night we had a sleepover at my house and had a blast with those cap guns, firing them off all night. They were kind of semi- automatic and the roll of caps would load as fast as you could fire them. And all of that for free!

Next morning we went right back to Tiny Tim's to get some more. We went to the toy rack and started loading up again. We were getting quite brazen about stealing at this point and had our pants, socks, pockets stuffed with caps, cap guns and whatever else we fancied. Steve and Brian figured they were done and left to stand by our bikes. I told them I'd be out in a minute.

I just couldn't get enough of it and taking one last look saw one more thing I wanted: A pea shooter kit. It was a small bag with a 6" straw with a paper package containing not only peas for ammo, but the outside of the package was a target so you could shoot peas at it. I wanted that pea shooter.

I looked to the right over towards the checkout and didn't see the store guy. I went for my one last grab and started stuffing it into my pants. As I stuffed it into my pants I looked over toward the checkout again and there was the store guy, standing at the edge of the aisle staring at me.

Yikes! I put the pea shooter back on the rack and started walking out of the store- the exit being on the opposite side of the store guy- and he grabbed me by the arm as I passed by him. "You're not going anywhere!".

Me: "Let me go. I'M SORRY". Him: "Give me everything else you have", and I emptied out my pockets and all the stuff I had stuffed down my pants. The only thing he didn't get was some caps I'd stuffed in my socks. I'd forgot about them.

Him: "Give me your mother's phone number or I'll call the police". Me: "No". Him, "Ok. I'm calling the police", and he picks up the handle to the telephone next to him. Me: "NO. NO!!!". Him, "Ok, then give me your phone number". Me: "NO, NO!".

We go back and forth for a while with that and me crying and screaming at the top of my lungs. At one point Steve comes back in the door and asks what's wrong. I tell him to go back outside and wait. He goes back outside. Some lady comes in with a son younger than I was and I yell at her, "Don't come in here. This man is mean!". She just walks on by.

Finally the store guy gets tired of the back and forth and after five or ten minutes of it says, "All right. Get out of here and I don't ever want to see you in here again!". I run outside where Steve and Brian were waiting on their bikes. Steve asks again, "What happened?". I said something like "Nothing. Let's get out of this stupid place", and off we went.

I never did that again!