Really now? You obviously have no heart. It was a mistake, and they were willing to pay. Have you had to put up with a pregnant woman? Are you a woman yourself and ever been pregnant? Feeling fatigued, your mind is anywhere but where it needs to be when it comes to food.

The store is lucky this woman didn't go into labor over the stress of the entire situation. I will be avoiding this food store. Shame on them.

It's a troll - just ignore them...

I often see people eating food at the grocery store while shopping. A bag of chips, etc. Though usually I think people keep the package in the cart so they don't forget to pay for it. I have never done it, and never plan to. I always thought that it was weird and kind of pushing the limit. What if you get to the front and realize you forgot your wallet? Then you have no way to pay for the food that you just consumed. I understand that what the parents did was not uncommon, but in the future maybe it would be a good idea to buy the sandwiches first, take them outside to eat them, and then continue with your shopping. The store clearly over-reacted though. I think it was poorly handled all around.

proudamericanveteran- Change that to heartlessdumbamericanvveteran

Another example of the "gotcha" mentality some businesses/government agencies have. It was an obvious oversight, the kind that those same businesses and agencies make every day. The store could have just reminded them about the sandwiches, received payment and the whole issue would have been over. Instead an overzealous security guard and manager decided they would pull a power-play and created chaos for everyone involved. Now they will (hopefully) loose their jobs, Child Services will face a lawsuit (or at least bad P.R.), Safeway now has bad media attention, and most importantly a child and family have been traumatized over a $5 sandwich.

Whatever happened to the Golden Rule of treating others as you would want to be treated? Just use common sense people.

Lucky for them they did not get shot or tasered... I'm sure the woman run into the bathroom to devour her ill gotten sandwich so that nobody could see her...

Common sense is not so common

Ok, this is just beyond stupid. Safeway has a ridiculously self-inflicted PR wound--could Child services looks more incompetent in needlessly traumatizing a toddler, and the police, who should have known better than to pursue this case of the eaten sandwich, look utterly ridiculous. Are there ANY grownups anymore??

What reasoning for them to take the child in the first place? Shouldnt a family member be called before they step in and just take the child? I thought they prefered that anyway? Thats what they say anyway.

Ridiculous all around. I say safeway gives them a decent gift card... And cab money to get there. A child traumatized for no reason at all. Who knows what could have happened to that child. SHAME SHAME SHAME!

People, the store did not take the child. The police came onto the scene regarding a shoplifting incident. How the couple reacted, etc. is probably why the child was removed. All the store did was call the police. If you have a problem make it with the Honolulu PD, not Safeway.

Yeah, we kinda figured that, norm.

While Safeway handled the situation improperly people need to understand you should not be consuming anything at the grocery store until you have paid for it. I see it all the time while I am out shopping. People munch on things or get drinks while standing in line. Intent on paying doesn't equal ownership.

You want a sandwich? Take it to the register, pay for it, eat it and go back to your shopping. And offering to pay after means absolutely nothing, most people that steal have the money to buy the item on them.

Fuzzybearslippers:

My wife did her weekly grocery shopping at a locally owned chain store, got to the checkout, had everything scanned, only to realize she forgot her wallet. The store manager let her bring everything home and return to pay. Of course they knew her since she did all her shopping there. But she nevertheless was embarrassed. The local Safeway closed years prior to the local chain coming in. Safeway was a dump. The family owned chain was an upscale store and provided the best customer service. Another time the wife locked her keys in the car. The store has baggers (teens and retired men) who take your groceries to the car (part of their service with no tipping). The young guy put her groceries in his car, brought her home, and found a way into the house, let her in, helped carry in the groceries, and took her back after she got a spare key. I guess it didn't occur to her to call me as I worked locally and could have opened her car. Oh well, sometimes we don't think of everything. But that was the days before cell phones.

I guess my wife and I are repeat offenders and deserve life in prison for being habitual criminals.

I can't count how many seedless grapes we have tasted over the years to see if they were sweet or not before buying.

you can make up for that by always putting some change in the container at the checkout for charities.

otherwise, instead of "give a little take a little", you are living the "take a little all the time" lifestyle.

John-1283964.......you get no mercy! Life in Prison for eating grapes. Only kidding. But seriously, "Proud'american'veteran" says he's glad they got busted as a warning to others......but as I read thru the comments on Wallstreet stealing 5 TRILLION from his fellow Americans......you DON'T see "Proud'american'veteran" say anything, He's Strangely Silent.

Those of you saying you should never eat or drink something before you check out... How is having a drink or a snack you intend to pay for any different than eating at a restaurant? Do they not extend you the benefit of credit until you are finished? Stores that sell food may be a little different than a restaurant, but really, what's the difference? Is it because someone keeps a tab running at the restaurant and no one monitors you at the store? If you want to steal you will (if you can get away with it). If you forget your wallet, that could happen at a restaurant too. I don't see what the hullabaloo is. This sort of thing is indicative of the way things are headed because of this economy; assuming people are criminals when they just forgot to put the wrappers up for a charge. Shame on Safeway for their lack of gracious sense in the community.

ProudAmerican is a typical Fox news troll... he is becoming well known for exactly that.

This is one of the most ridiculous stories ever! Seriously? Arrested over a sandwich? If we had any Safeways around here, I surely wouldn't shop there! As for eating or drinking when shopping - what is the big deal? You do that in a restaurant, don't you? They don't expect you to pay for your food before you consume it. I drank a Mountain Dew while grocery shopping over the weekend and yes, I put it on the register and paid for it when I was done.

Why didn't the husband go to the register and pay for the sandwich? He is not pregnant.

Karabella, when you are in a restaurant, you are there to eat, not to shop and eat. The husband who is not pregnant could have paid for the sandwiches and then walked back to the wife. What is the problem?

Thats a bit of a narrow minded view and obviously not form someone who has had their kids at the grocery store with them before. What might be a 10 minute run for others becomes longer and in that time making sure you get everyhting while at the same time watching your young ones it is not hard to have somehitng slip your mind.

JRM: And the punishment for eating a sandwich (even if you eventually prove that was NOT an oversight) is removing your child to protective services? Just a wee bit over the top aren't you? You wouldn't be a member of the Taliban party now would you?

JRM, as your 2.1 post asks, You Know this information how? Or are you the only one allowed to make assumptions about people and situations you really know nothing about?

Good answer, JRM, zero tolerance.

I gather you'd be in favor or prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law, too. After all, we can't be too safe...

They should have arrested both parents for the same reason. Since you can't prove which of them actually ate the sandwich then both must be guilty.

yeah, the store...

someone stole my credit card and used it at Home Depot for $1500 and they refused to prosecute even though it was on camera, saying that's what insurance is for...

2 sandwiches?

proud...... I so do not believe you're a veteran. I have the utmost respect for those who serve our country but I have never seen a post from you that makes me believe you did.

It's also not really in the security guards interest to be "understanding". I have a friend that use to work in Loss Prevention as it's called and their pay is tied to the number of shoplifters they catch. They get a flat base comission for catching people and it goes up based on the sales amount the shoplifter is arrested for.

I have personally had problems with Safeway. When I was younger, they had me arrested for shoplifting after purchasing something and bringing the item in back to use the restroom. The security guard wouldn't even speak with the clerk I purchased the item in question from. Just yelled at the top of his lungs that I was a thief alarming everyone else in the grocery store. Their corprate policy (and I called to confirm after my incident) is to arrest now and ask questions later.

Safeway and the cops can suck my ass! What an unreasonable group of people! A pregnant mother can feel VERY ill in a VERY short amount of time. This situation is unacceptable. What undue trauma caused to the parents AND the daughter. The Safeway employees should have used reason but the cops definitely shoulder the blame on this. They are not fighting crime or protecting citizens, they are damn-dumb robots that spout "the law is the law". Unreasonable & Unacceptable!

I saw five "questionable citizenship" teenaged girls shoplift about 500 bucks at the Belks in my neighborhood and they made them call their parents and they ran them out of the store because they "couldn't speak English." I further watched these girls laugh their hind ends off once they got out of the store and say IN ENGLISH they were just going to come back and do it again next week. They got away with attempting to steal 500 bucks worth of stuff and this store couldn't let the parents just PAY for the sandwiches? I call bulls*it on this one.

It was up to Safeway to call or not call the cops and it was up to the cops to arrest them or not. CPS would have no choice but to take the kid when both parents are being arrested. What was the alternative leave her alone in the store?? Dont blame CPS in *this* one.

Would be nice if the authorities would act with such swift action, for the real thieves who've wiped out so many lifelong savings, and put so many out of home.

JRM,

I make no assumptions about the "crime" and can only go on facts.

If they paid for $50 and forgot to pays for $10 in sandwiches, that was $10 of a $60 dollar purchase.

It wasn't 20% it was 16.67%!!! Now that is a fact we can all agree on!

The people working at the store clearly overreacted here. For them to have been busted for eaten sandwiches, someone must have seen this happen. Did both parents eat the sandwiches? If not, there was no reason to arrest both people and have the child hauled off.

There are 2 groups of grazers.

1) The grazers who keep the package in the shopping cart so they can pay for what they ate.

2) The grazers who feel entitled to a snack while they shop and the people who think they can steal a snack. This group hides the packaging while they shop as they have no intentions of paying for their snack.

I think the people in this story are part of group 2, otherwise they would have had the sandwich wrapper in the cart to remind them to pay for it.

Well, I smell a nice settlement coming. This is exactly why we DON'T need tort reform. Only though severe financial punishment will businesses learn to treat people like human beings. The only tort reform we need is to make the penalties higher! If it were up to me, Safeway would be out a million for this.

Good point John. I realized that after my edit time expired.

Thankfully I now understand that 16.67% is the cutoff point for the "Oh I forgot" clause of shoplifting. I was going to try this over lunch, but my $5 wrap amounted to the fully prosecutable 20% of my $25 bill. Wasn't worth the risk of paying only if stopped. I mean, they make great wraps, but......

j/k folks. Have a nice day.

John,

If they paid for $50 and forgot to pays [sic] for $10 in sandwiches, that was $10 of a $60 dollar [sic] purchase.

It wasn't 20% it was 16.67%!!! Now that is a fact we can all agree on!

In the case you describe, there wasn't a sixty dollar purchase, there was a fifty dollar purchase and a ten dollar theft. So, 20% seems a reasonable way to describe the percentage of theft vs. the percentage of purchase.

There was no theft. There was no criminal intent. This is a waste of tax payer dollars, police and CPS resources and people should be outraged that Safeway wasted tax payer dollars by not handling the situation like HUMAN BEINGS...not to mention loses from the inevitable law suit.

Americans...always looking in the wrong direction.

I have two kids I bring with me to the grocery and on a couple of occasions forgot about the fountain lemonades they are drinking and carrying around the store. And the next ime I go to the Publix, I grab an empty cup with the barcode on it and ask the cashier to ring them up and take the cup back. I have never had such a problem at Publix; if the cashier and I both don't notice the kids drinks I feel it's MY responsbility to take care of it when I DO notice it later. Partly because I don't want my kids to think it's OK to take advantage of forgetfullness to "steal" I have also explained to my older child that when the store loses money (even a little) it makes the prices go up and we don't want to do that. But that store should have been more understanding of the situation. Pregnancy causes a woman to lose a bit of her memory. I used to think that was bull until it happened to me. Now that my youngest is four I think I am finally getting some of it back, like being able to do long division in my head. but give pregnant women a break people they are having a hard enough time.

No theft? Bull@!$%#, they stole $10 worth of sandwiches. You can argue intent all you want, but the theft is a fact.

As stated by someone earlier, why were the sandwich wrappers not kept so they could be scanned later?

Lemonade stand...... cops are there, Girl Scout cookies...... cops are there, somebody smoking pot....cops are there. $5 sandwich......protective services are there

Border issues in Pakistan... we are there, border issues in Syria..... we are there, border issues in Israel....we are there, border issues in Iraq.....we are there, Border issues with Mexico.....no money.

Oh and let's not forget about the bad publicity safeway is getting from this incident. I have never shopped there but if I ever move to an area that has one I will avoid it like the plague.

Mike757 to call something theft you must have intent, its called the law. Thank goodness my coffee shop is not like SafeWay a few times I've picked up the newspaper forgot to pay and have come back that evening and payed, or they have had to remind me as I walked out.

........"Rent-a-Cop" on a 'mission!!'.

Nobody’s right when everybody’s wrong.

I wonder what kind of looks Mom and Dad here gave the guy at their Hotel when he asked .......... “Are you enjoying your stay at the Kocualucukoo Hotel so far?

I remember when stuffing frozen lobsters in your pants was the big thing, ..oh the good ole days.

Mike757 to call something theft you must have intent, its called the law

They took sandwiches, ate them, and discarded the wrappers with the barcoded labels...then left without paying for them. That's theft.

Intent means nothing...it's just a story that they "forgot". Is it true? Maybe....maybe not...that's the part where the law comes in, and they will decide if they believe them.

You must prove intent before a crime was committed.

I have noticed this on this thread: PLEASE DO NOT COMMUNITY COLLAPSE ANY COMMENTS THAT MAY BE IN FAVOR OF THE STORE in this article. We do not live in China or North Korea.This is a free discussion site. It was what allows us to be here in the first place.

As a matter of fact, it would be most impressive and intelligent, if you uncollapsed JRM's and other comments above. America and freedom of speech does not mean you have to like or agree with what other people say, but you must tolerate it.

America and freedom of speech does not mean you have to like or agree with what other people say, but you must tolerate it.

This may be a free discussion board, but it is a business there here to make money. And as we all know that trumps any thing and every thing else. And if the majority of ad readers don't care for some post well it gets collapsed.

"it appears we may not have handled this matter in the best possible way. "

I think that was from the, 'Creative Public Communication With Emphasis On Understatement' seminar.

I am a diabetic and on more than one occasion I have opened up the orange juice or a regular sugar soda for a quick fix, but I have never put the bottle back on the shelf or tried to hide the bottle even though I have been asked if I brought the bottle in with me. I am an honest person and always pay for my food eaten or uneaten while shopping. How do you forget to pay for a sandwich if you still have the wrapper? I have never had anyone in a store hand me a sandwich unwrapped and I doubt any of you have either. This was the case of theft pure and simple. Did it call for the police to be called, absolutely? I am tired of high prices and this is one of the causes. How would you feel if you had to pay for 2 sandwiches and only receive one? This country is in the middle of protests over corporate greed and these corporations plus politicians are telling us it's nothing but people asking for hand outs. We don't want hand outs, all we want is our moneys worth whether it be for hours of work or products we buy. I want my fair share and I don't think stealing it is the right way to do it.

If the police arrested them both at the store, what happened to the $50 in groceries they bought? Did the store take the stuff back inside or was it ruined?

It does seem odd that a person could unwrap a sandwitch and eat it and not keep the wrapper somewhere so they could have it counted at the register, but I wasn't there. But arresting them both and removing their child for a possible $5 or $10 petty theft seems a little extreme. Seems the officer could have written them a "ticket" or some kind of summons.

I would tend to fault on the side of the parents, first of all, she is 30 weeks pregnant, that's 7.5 months to the rest of us...and they walked a long way with a 3 year old. If anyone has been around a 3 year old much lately, you spend 90% of your time trying to keep their fingers out of stuff.
My granddaughter will be 3 in January, and it's difficult for me to keep up with her, and I'm not trying to shop and carrying a 30 month pregnancy. I'm also an active duty service member.
Dad was probably keeping an eye on his feint, pregnant wife and the toddler, it's pretty easy to get distracted with all that going on.

Not to mention how much the taxpayers had to front for the arrest and the child-custody.

"Proud'american'veteran" says he's glad they got busted as a warning to others......but as I read thru the comments on Wallstreet stealing 5 TRILLION from his fellow Americans......you DON'T see "Proud'american'veteran" say anything, He's Strangely Silent.

Between this incident and the claim of a similar incident with Safeway Guards by missrn, it sounds like these Paul Blart wannabes need to get a life. I bet if a real threat came into the store none of them would know what to do with themselves....I mean, besides wet their pants!

And in other news....there are parents slap, whip and burn their kids and gets a slap on the wrist and a stern warning never to do that again!

How do we know they "forgot" to pay? Of course that is what they would say. The store should have let them pay for the sandwiches, but that does not mean the couple were innocent. The police taking their child...something else must have happened that we are not being told... otherwise it seems like an over-reaction by them.

As a native New Yorker (now displaced) who worked in a 7/11 when I was young, I don't trust people like this on first inspection and tend to dismiss their story as fabrication, I can't prove that, true enough. I've certainly never eaten 2 sandwiches while shopping and then forgot to pay. Still, this couple is either genuine or scamming by relying on the old "You can't prove it, so how dare you impugn my character" approach. We'll never know for certain. I used to catch people like this all the time; folks in business attire, kids in high school, tourists, you name it. I threw them all out on their tails. My gut tells me this couple is as guilty as hell, but I couldn't prove it. Safeway is in an unenviable position here.

As for the kids, the police have to check out the couple for other wants or warrants during questioning. 18 hours is nothing.

Famished, the former Air Force staff sergeant picked up the two sandwiches that together cost $5. She openly munched on one while they shopped, saving the wrapper to be scanned at the register later.

See people, it even says in the article she SAVED the wrappers !!!.. This is just plain old over reacting...It's so sad that people are so quick to judge now days..Am so glad not to be young in this 21st century.. Life was so much better and easier in the 70's..

So it's ok to shoplift $ 5.00 and get away with it?? They didn't pay for the sandwiches prior to eating them - it's shoplifting.

And nobody is that famished to eat the food while in the grorecy store..... wait I think i will cook two Porter House steaks while shopping..... then hit the wine section prior to going through the checkout.

@Nightbreeze, you probably shouldn't comment about something you know nothing about. 18 hours is nothing to you. It's traumatic to a two year old who has never been away from her parents and is removed overnight.

And for all those arguing about what percentage the $10 was and why she didn't keep the wrapper, try reading the article for content this time. It clearly says the sandwiches cost $5 TOGETHER, not each. It also says she opened ONE and openly munched on it while shopping (that would be $2.50) and that she kept the wrapper to pay for it but somehow forgot. Let's see . . . just moved, lost (so apparently out longer than expected to those who wonder why she needed to eat), probably jet-lagged and with a toddler in tow . . . is that a plausible story given all those factors? By all means!!!

"Famished, the former Air Force staff sergeant picked up the two sandwiches that together cost $5. She openly munched on one while they shopped, saving the wrapper to be scanned at the register later."

The "crime" was $5 at most, maybe $2.50, and the wrapper was saved. If they really intended to steal, the value of what they took would have been much higher and the amount they spent on groceries much less. There are a lot of people commenting here who apparently didn't even read the entire article but want to post as if they know the intent of these people they've never met. What a sad way to live life.

Kay. Why shouldn't knightbreeze comment??? He/She has just as much knowledge as you do...Which is not much..Who are you ?

The wrapper was saved.. But they did not put it up to pay for it, hence, they stole...

@ Al....No it's not ok to shop lift ..I never said it was...BUT people do forget and/or make mistakes.....Hell I personally walked out with a friend at lunch..got to talking..and forgot to pay MY tab, which was way more then $5.00..got two blocks and realized what happened and went back and the manager told me he was surprised I came back..I have NEVER stolen but I did make an error..So hall me off to jail now ok. I wasn't there, but with the way the story is written I am giving this family the benefit of doubt. Seems the store manager should have asked more questions before he went off half cocked !!! Oh and I work retail and restaurants as management so yeah I know a little bit about what I'm talking about.

There is a retail saying, 10% of your profits leave by the back door and 10% by the front door. In other words the employees and the truckers will rob you by the back door and the customers will rob you by the front door.

As a retail store owner it is true. An employee just loved to take the trash out and I let her and then went out back and there were 200-300 dollars of new shoes in the garbage.
Then there was the sweet old lady, a real grandmother who walked too carefully and she caught my eye while I was helping a customer and she walked right over to the pocketbook rack and grabbed a bag and walked out. I chased her and asked for her receipt.........grandma had a ride to the police dept.

Supermarkets have a harder job. How many times do you see parents giving children fruit from the bag they just filled up or candy from a bag they broke into. Those cameras up there do WORK! I was in a vitamin aisle and three men jumped out and grabbed a women in the cosmetics department and her two kids. I don't know how much she shoved in her handbag. But when I was leaving the three were in the back seat of a cop car. Then there are the gangs who come into the supermarket and crowd an aisle and shove goods in their socks and walk out. There goes $20-$50 at least. And the stupid supermarkets refuse to put in mirrors on the opposing check out counter for the cashier to see what is under the carriage. More than once I called the cashier's attention to a big bag of dog food going out the door without paying.

The stores don't lose. They make up what is lost shoplifting by raising prices. And you pay for it, so this woman learned not to munch in the store before paying and there are signs posted telling people not to eat in the store, right next to the sign that says we prosecute all shoplifters!

It appears that most of you think nothing of a store losing $5.00. How about $500 or a $1000? That is what an average supermarket loses in a day. Sandwich by sandwich, fruit by fruit, eye shadow by eye shadow, candy bar by candy bar. How many of you make $500-$1000 a day. The more publicity the less the store loses and the less they have to raise prices.

Too many liberal bleeding hearts. My mother taught me many years that when we went into any store, my hands stayed in my pockets and only can touch what we were going to buy. Seems a good rule today.

@Nightbreeze, you probably shouldn't comment about something you know nothing about. 18 hours is nothing to you. It's traumatic to a two year old who has never been away from her parents and is removed overnight.

KayT3, What I will comment on is your utter lack of reading comprehension. I never said 18 hours wasn't tough on the kids, or on the parents for that matter. What I said was the police are required to take certain actions before returning the kids lo the parents who were just arrested - like making sure the kids actually belonged to them and that they weren't wanted for something like human trafficking. But you wouldn't think of that, would you? No, the first time such things would cross your mind would be after children were accidentally returned to serial killers who then murdered the children. And you could then join all the other ignorant bigmouths and cry, "Why didn't the police make sure those children belonged to those people before letting them go? The police caused the death of those poor innnocents!""

KayT3, if you want to see someone who 'probably shouldn't talk about something they know nothing about', try looking in the mirror. In fact, in your case, it would probably be wise advice for you to follow no matter what topic you're commenting on in the future.

The problem with your argument, it doesn't take 18 hours to verify warrants or lack thereof. And to question "suspects" on a petty larceny case. It was too much.

I don't know why everyone is blaming the police officers for this incident. I would think that most people would know that if the VICTIM wants to press charges (and there is enough probable cause) the police officers that respond must arrest the SUSPECTS (per SOP).

This is outrageous.

Listen to these people trying to justify taking a child away from a parent overnight.

Its like someone yelled tea baggers unite. Its always the same people. They always put common sense aside and cheer punishment, torture and death.

Punishing the 2 year old child is A-OK because that is the standards they have for their own families.

And these people want to decide the future of everyone's children?

I don't think so.

So when did it become okay to steal and complain when you get caught? They were eating the products while shopping and forgot to pay for it? They only bought $50 worth of groceries. With the cost of groceries it wouldn't take long to put that much in your basket and check out. I am guessing that they may have been hungry but they probably could have waited for a relatively few minutes to wait until they paid for their food before consuming it.

The parents ate but they didn't say anything about the child sharing with the child. Many people use the children as an excuse to garner pity so why aren't the parents saying the child was hungry in addition to "poor me, they took my child away because I stole some food."

What level of theft does it become acceptable/unacceptable to steal and only pay when caught? I was test driving the car and forgot to bring it back to pay for it.

Get real...oldest trick in a shop lifters arsenal - take kids with you while doing your crime. Pregnant women, toddler, young, "stuggling" couple, just starting out in a ne place... doesn't that just push all the sympathy buttons... I get all misty eyed just thinking about it. It has all the makings of a documentry of life in the usa during these troubling times. Then add in their abuse at the hands of a big faceless corporation. then nerve of a food store not allowing these 2 free-spirits the benefit of doubt... after all - it was "only" a few sandwiches.

I also wonder, how many stores, closer to their home they mayhave passed to get to that one? Heres the biggy - a bus ride back home, with a toddler, bags of groceries ... instead of one across the street?

No, there is nothing suspecious going on.Much as you want to dislike "rent-a-cops" the point is, stores would not have if crime had not reach a level high enough that paying for guards is cheaper than allowing minor shrinkage.

No business is going to have an unnecessary monthly expense - unless...?

Would you put an alarm in your house/car if no one had been burgled in your neighborhood? probably not.

I'm just venturing a guess here, BUT, would the police really put the couple in jail for only forgetting to pay for $5 of unpaid goods and also go through the hassle of putting the child into state custody?

There seems to be a lot of untold events behind the actions. The police definitely aren't going to want to go through the hassle of all the additional paperwork and scrutiny from the higher-ups, media, and public for a misdemeanor infraction comparable to a traffic ticket. Call me a skeptic but I feel there is more to the story than the "horrifying" experience of the mother.

Beowolf - I'm with you on your perception but I would have also included "arresting a veteran and the vomiting was an attempt to get rid of the evidence".

Technically, the sandwiches hadnt left to store yet (in the tummies) so they should have still be able to pay for them. ;)

Beoweolf,
You forget, they PAID for $50 (+) of groceries! If they were there to get something for free, why, then, would they PAY for the rest of it???

Look at shoplifting statistics. Many buy something when they shoplift. Makes a good cover. Also, these people paid with WIC voucher but WIC doesn't cover expensive sandwiches from the deli.

WIC voucher? That wasn't in the article. Where did this information come from?

Agreed! Maybe a "dont let it happen again!", but beyond that, there is no reason for this to have occured. I didnt think two people could be charged with the same crime, and whoever forgot to pay should be the one who was ultimately responsible for the sandwiches. Besides that, I have been a hypoglycemic pregnant lady. I would forget my head if it wasnt screwed on when my blood suger was down. And if Dad is like my hubby, he would be too busy looking at the gossips to see the hot chics to pay attention to anything else. Could be just an oversight, IMO.

If both parents were arrested CPS has no choice but to take the kid. What's the alternative leave her alone in the store????? If it was just the mom arrested the dad could have kept her or vice versa. My question is why did the cops choose to arrest them both???

CPS can call a family member, and this I know from experience. At any time that was another option. They also had the option to charge only one person for the crime, and they opted to charge both.

Impatientgirl - They probably arrested them both because one was guilty and the other was an "accomplice". What a joke.

In our family store shoplifting is rampant. It was almost putting us out of business until we put in anti theft and security on just about EVERYTHING and even still they steal.

For Halloween...here's a less obvious story from years ago, since we do not put it on candy: Father and son were standing in front of the register. I ring up the father and ask "Are you also going to pay for the candy that your son just pocketed?" He says 'What are you talking about?" I said he put candy in is pockets. He asked his son "Did you put any candy in your pockets?" Kid answers no. So I say "So we both agree that there is no candy in your kids pockets, before he entered the store and now?" He says that's right. I reply "Then lets make a wager. You can have all this merchandise I just rang up for you of you empty your kids pockets and don't fine a peanut MM's and/or a Hershey bar. His eyes light up "Empty your pockets!" Sure enough, there is the candy. Put it back, he tells the kid. Does not yell at him, does not make him apol o gize. The guy does not even say 'Sorry about that" to me!!!

So I ask, you, should I have added "And the wager if you lose is you and your kid get to stick around and speak with the police?" I should have, because that guy needed to put the fear of God, or the police or a ride in the back of a police car in his son's head.

Yes, you should have. Great story either way. LOL

Glen,
I loved your story, but I also have to feel for the couple in this story.
About 10 years ago, I was working as an Army Recruiter, and as I was going through the checkout when I got a phone call and didn't realize when I answered the phone I put the pack of cigarettes I had in my hand in the pocket I normally carried them in and paid for the rest of my items.
A few hours later I realized I had the pack in my pocket...I went back to the store and paid for them, but they had no idea I had taken them, and neither did I.
As a uniform member, do you realize what kind of trouble I would have been in, if they had taken that to the Police? It was a completely innocent situation.

Many people are thieves. it is sad but true.

One of the excuses for stealing the sandwiches was that they got lost. Did they not know how to ask the bus driver where they were or how to get "home"?

The real problem I have is that, while some may find it understandable that a person would "forget" to pay for an item, but for TWO people to "forget". Also, remember they had nagging hunger pangs and one would think that at least one of the two would have been reminded of the fact that they were no longer "famished" as they were checking out.

Would you forgive so easily if it was some "crack whore" or some trailer trash bimbo? I would think that they could "forget" to pay for things too. Let's face it, this couple can't play the race card so they are playing the "oh poor pregnant me" card. BTW. where are the sandwich wrappers? If they are in their cart, then how did they "forget"? If they ditched them somewhere in the store, then they never intended to pay for them. We clearly don't have all of the facts.

underdoug - I take it that you've never had a child in a grocery store who's been a distraction, causing problems WHILE your wife is very pregnant AND never ever forgot to do something to the letter of correctness.

It's amazing how many people who commit similar errors of 'forgetting' there are who also get all riled up about correctness and 'how dare they forget'...

Yeah - they screwed up and needed to correct their actions. I've had kids and pregnant wife in a store and I know darn well I've messed up and forgot things during those moments. Never got arrested for anything, but then I'm not one to eat anything in a supermarket before I pay for it. (I don't even take any of the cookies from the bakery that are open on the counter 'cuz I beleive that those are set out for kids and not adults).

I challenge every person who's condeming these folks because they forgot to tell us TRUTHFULLY that they never forgot to do something important EVER in thier lives that they absolutely should have done. I can guarantee that -none- of them can swear that they've never failed to do every important thing perfectly. While not everything is equal to not paying for a food item or two - I can guarantee that these myopic accusers have failed in thier own way on something equally important.

I agree with you, underdog. Where were the wrappers for the sandwiches??? Tucked away, thrown away, perhaps. That means however, it was planned theft with deceit.

It is redicoulus to have pregnancy and/or kids with you as an excuse to lift stuff in a store. First it was reported that the woman eat a sandwich and at the end it comes out to have been two sandwiches. Feeding the family on store budget?

Would you forgive so easily if it was some "crack whore" or some trailer trash bimbo?

If you mean a criminal or couple known to the store as shoplifters, then probably not. That's the point. These were regular paying customers with no criminal history or habit of shoplifting, who most likely made an honest mistake. What's the harm in reminding them to pay and letting them leave?

I agree it is odd that the wrappers weren't mentioned. Perhaps they were too messy, so the couple discarded them in the deli section with the intent of just mentioning them to the cashier. Or perhaps they fell through the openings in the cart, or actually were in the cart but didn't get rung up. Who knows? Seems odd that they'd steal sandwiches and pay for their other groceries, especially when the scenario of walking to the store pregnant and getting faint is pretty reasonable explanation.

I have noticed this on this thread: PLEASE DO NOT COMMUNITY COLLAPSE ANY COMMENTS THAT MAY BE IN FAVOR OF THE STORE in this article. We do not live in China or North Korea.This is a free discussion site. It was what allows us to be here in the first place.

As a matter of fact, it would be most impressive and intelligent, if you uncollapsed JRM's and other comments above. America and freedom of speech does not mean you have to like or agree with what other people say, but you must tolerate it.

Although I think ANYONE HUNGRY should be able to eat, paid for or not......The only thing about this story that really bothers me (aside from the OVERREACTION of the store) is the wrappers. On the occation that I feel my blood sugar is weak, (i am a diabetic) I will get some crackers or chips, something, anything to take the shakes away. If I found that I ate the whole thing, I simply give the women the wrapper and she rings me up. We laugh about how sometimes ya just cant wait, or I even share with them.

Shoot just yesterday me and my mother in law tried to steel, I was the one busted first...hehe, I tried on some hair jewlery and I thought I got them all out of my hair, I walked to the next vendor and the lady that worked the booth was yelling at someone.... who?? ME????!!!! I said to her, my goodness, what is all the yelling about? Did you want me? She was rude and totally embarressed me by yanking the hair clip out of my head and said... "this is not yours!!!" I was so beat red by all the attention it had brought. This was a dollar item!!!

A dollar and she yelled and screamed so loud you would have thought I stole 100.00. Then my mother in law... poor 87 year old in a wheelchair was trying on sun glasses, she had the hand held mirror and was looking. In all the hubub...after the horrific caper theft I was trying to get away with, she put the mirror on her lap and my hubby wheeled her to another vendor and all over again......The women went NUTS!!! I tried to explain we all just got out of prison and was trying our "family sticky finger plan" but she was yelling theft so loud she would have never heard a thing. I thought I was embarressed... you should see an 87 year old turn red!!!!

Things do get overlooked like I said.. I just would feel better about this story if the wrappers were in the cart too.... Alas.. we will never know!

JLM - your comment in 4.4 stsed "these were regular paying customers" is wrong. when the article clearly states:

The family had moved to an apartment near downtown Honolulu from California two weeks ago

So they weren't regular customers.

Wouldn't it be interesting if they had an arrest record in California. Everyone knows that Hawaii is expensive. LISA All chain stores have policies dictated by the main office and one of them is that all shoplifters are prosecuted. You can't steal something, then get caught and offer to pay for it or return it after you are caught, you are disingenuous.
This is great publicity against shoplifting. Every supermarket I have been in has a sign, NO EATING IN THE STORE and ALL SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED!" Or are you so blind you have never seen those signs? Your parents never taught you? Here we have two adults and one of them should have had the intelligence to remember they had eaten two sandwiches and had to pay for them.
AND NEITHER ONE DID!

Do you really think the manager was not involved when they called the police? An event like that requires that the manager be notified at any business. The problem is that they refused payment when it was offered....did they actually leave the store? That will be yet a nother problem. It is one thing to try to control shoplifting, but when someone offers payment and has a valid reason, a business person with good judgement would just accept payment and move on.

I have left in error with a case of water on the bottome of the cart. Not on purpose, but trying to get out of the store and get to my next stop. I paid for it in the end, but should I have been locked up for $4? Of course not, it was a mistake. Same situation here, get paid and move on!

The problem is that they refused payment when it was offered....

Sounds like a mortgage bank.

It's also not uncommon for thee manager to not be involved. Manager's get days of too and even if they did work that day, they get to clock out at some point.

bancas: The problem is that they refused payment when it was offered

actually bencas the article reads that "Leczcyzynski offered to pay for the sandwiches, she said". So she actually did offer to pay for the samdwiches

but the store refused to accept it, I think this is the point that bancas was trying to make.

You people either have never been taught how to be adults or are deliberately being liberal bleeding heart liberals who want to pay more at the supermarket. Definitely none of you have worked in a retail store or owned a business. And none of you understand how a supermarket works and the razor thin profit.
Managers have no leeway. They have to call the police on all shoplifters. That is why the parents were arrested outside of the store. They were given a chance to pay before they left. And you do know this happens in every supermarket hundreds of times a day? And you know who pays for the shoplifting? YOU DO! You actually think that you can steal something and then offer to pay for it after the event? You people make me laugh!

The city of Paterson New Jersey begged Pathmark Supermarket to put a supermarket next to a highrise in a gang area. Six months later they closed their door. Shoplifting made it unprofitable. Little by little, day by day, it was impossible to stop.

I worked for years in a grocery store, in all departments, and even did security/secret shopper at times. I realize that shoplifting is rampant, and I also realize how easy it is to make a mistake. Unfortunately, there is no information as to how this came abnout, did they discard the wrappers while shopping? Or were the wrappers left in the cart or stuck to somehting else that was put in the cart? All of threse things have a bearing on what happened, people ar eonly human and can forget things, especially when wathcing over a kid in the store. I don't think people can steal somehting and pay for it after, but I certianly believe people make mistakes and you are innocent until proven guilty. You make me laugh.

HN - or a tarp payback.

If this had happened to anyone else in a diabetic fit for example, but not pregnant with a young child in tow, no one would even give a darn.

Both of you want to live in this country and the rules are posted in every supermarket. "ALL SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED AND NO EATING IN THE STORE"

Now what part of those two laws do you not understand? Been in effect for many years. And you have to pay for the theft in higher prices. WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? Basic economics the store has to make a profit. RIGHT? Costs go up, prices go up. RIGHT? The lost of merchandise by shoplifting is a cost, RIGHT? This happens several hundred times a day RIGHT?

You want to pay more at the supermarket when there is shoplifting?

Jackal, I have been in many stores in many states in my years, and NEVER have I seen "no eating in the store" signs. I asked my mother, who has shopped in more stores in more states, and neither has she. They don't exist in MOST stores.

Shoplifting signs are often in the restrooms, but they are at least displayed. And shoplifting should be prosecuted, forgetting, notsomuch. And they DO have leeway. In fact, my leeway happened at a Pathmark, in NJ. (Although not in or near Paterson.)

Calm down, and use actual facts.

Many if not all supermarkets have those signs. And if you are so juvenile you don't know that it is wrong to open a package in a store and or eat from it, then you should not be allowed in a store. I was taught as a small boy and it was reinforced when I worked in retail and later when I owned my own retail store.

Here is an intelligent very well written to the question "IS EATING ONE GRAPE SHOPLIFTING?"
Yes because until you have paid for it it is not yours and you are helping yourself to something that belongs to someone else. If there are grapes open with a notice saying you may try one then the answer then it is not shoplifting. As someone else here said it is also bad manners and it also teaches kids that they can help themselves to anything they want and eat it without paying. Put yourself in the place of the shop owner. You have paid for the grapes in order to sell them so that you can earn a living and pay your staff, but people looking at the grapes and helping themselves to one grape each means you have less to sell plus the public do not like buying bunches of half eaten grapes!

And if you don't remember seeing them, that means you have become use to them and don't react any more to them. But they are there and gives the store the right to call the police and warning you that they do have the right. Now don't tell me you have to be reminded that shoplifting is wrong and illegal?

Jackal, you saying they have it, does not make it so. I actually had to run to the grocery store after you posted this the first time, looked for the sign, didn't find it and asked the customer service desk if one was there. They said no.

Now, on the grape issue, I agree with you 100%. Eating anything that you pay for by the pound/dozen etc is wrong since there cannot be any accurate accounting of what you consume. That, I agree is shop lifting. (I have even been in a store that OK's sampling, and people take advantage of that.) But, if you open a box of cookies, pay for the box of cookies (that has a bar-code and set price) you are not shoplifting. You open, eat 2, put the box back, then, of course, you are.

And, I think the MINUTE you eat by the pound food, you shoplift, because there is no way to account for that food.

Now you want to shoplift and allow shoplifting, I do hope they catch you and put you in jail, fine you and if the judge decides to give you a 30 day rest at county expense, I am for it. I hope it makes msnbc.com and you can tell the judge all the reasons why you should be allowed to shoplift!
If you need a drill bit and you want one of those new impact resistant titanium $5.00 bits and you go to HOME DEPOT, open one of those nifty bit sets and take that 1/64 th size bit. Do you consider that shoplifting or just helping yourself?

The big stores have the signs, it is to avoid liability.

The Safeway in West Paterson NJ has it on the top of the public bulletin board where the offices are located in the middle of the store where the store does special financial transactions. Route 46 heading east just before Rifle Camp Road.

I've never seen those signs. I think I saw them in a bakery once, but never in a grocery store.

Jackal, there is no point engaging in conversation with you when you don't read what I respond with. I stated CLEARLY that taking something out of a package and not paying for it is SHOPLIFTING and wrong. Yet you come back with that comment. You have done this with several other people as well. Therefore, since you seem to just want to bait and argue, I will not be engaging you any further.

Keith, I haven't either. Paterson, NJ is a beast unto it's own (the movie Lean on Me was based on a true story in that city.)

I've never seen the "eating" signs either but I never really thought about doing that anyway. The checkers usually make some little joke about not packing the candy bar though, wink, wink. ;)

Safeway didn't call CPS, the police would have when they arrested the parents. What were they supposed to do, leave the kid at the grocery store and say, "Stay put, your mommy and daddy will be back as soon as they make bail. Could be today, could be tomorrow. Just don't move. And whatever you do, don't even try to eat a sandwich."

Could have sued some dicretion. Do you really thing that dragging two parent away and having a kid put in custody is a logical reaction to a 'stolen' 10 dollars and a $50 fine. If I lived in that location I'd be looking into that. All thes eplaces have cameras, just look at them and it should be easy to see if the couple was malicious in their taking of the sandwiches. i.e sneaking them off the shelf, discreetly disposing of garbage, keeping a lookout for anyone that might be watching? Be easy to tell by looking at video, instread of just assuming the worst.

All thes eplaces have cameras, just look at them and it should be easy to see if the couple was malicious in their taking of the sandwiches. i.e sneaking them off the shelf, discreetly disposing of garbage, keeping a lookout for anyone that might be watching? Be easy to tell by looking at video, instread of just assuming the worst

And what in that article makes you think they didn't? Assuming the worst about the store and security, aren't you?

and what makes you think they did? were you witness to this event?

Nope, I wasn't.

Who broke the law again? Wasn't the store. Doesn't matter how or why. Only one side to blame here. One side may have reacted poorly (may not have at the same time). But only one side took something without paying.

The same way you seem to assuming the opposite huh?

the governmental agency just found a way to make a couple of bucks--that's all this is about.

Kayner,

Well everyone else is, I figure why miss out on the party....

Actually, I would've loved to be a fly on the wall when the police arrived, followed by child services .... They had to be so "thrilled" to be bothered with that...

shaunb, what this is all about has nothing to do with a governmental agency making a couple of bucks. If you read the thread before you pasted your boilerplate text in, you would realize that.

Well Warren if they indeed are convicted for shop lifting two five dollar sandwich's. There going to have to pay at least a couple hundred bucks in fines and court cost.

But if some one vandalises your car like they did my wife's to the tune of a couple thousand in damage. They won't even bother to come look at it. The vandals had actual left finger prints on the car riping the trim off because they cut the tires first.

Store managers have no discretion in shoplifting matters. Every store is studied for, in store losses and if the number gets too large the manager is fired for not doing enough to stop the losses. The prices have to be increased and the sales volume goes down. Less profits. Jesus how incredible is your lack of intelligence!

You have two adults who know that it is wrong to steal and leave a store without paying for items consumed in the store contrary to rules posted in the store.
Safeway has no jurisdiction on what happens to them after the police take control. Would you have been happier if they put three packages of filet mignon in the baby carriage? Exactly what is the cut off point for theft?
And the law clearly states that the person is not doing a theft until they leave the premises. So you can't talk to them as they could say, they were going to pay at the check out.
But they had left and made no indication to return to pay for the product. So it is theft. The wrappers and cameras were the proof.

Now this happens several hundred times a day. When do you say enough is enough and I have proof to call the police.
Remember you are paying to make up for all these thefts with higher prices!

Then how come when I walked back into a store to pay for something I inadvertently left without paying for (I noticed, was not caught by security) they accepted my money and didn't call the police? According to what you said, since I left the store, they had no choice. They ALWAYS have a choice. There is no law that says they HAVE to call the police. They chose, which was in their right, to call the police, but make no mistake, they have a choice.

Tam the fact you weren't caught outside the store doesn't mean you didn't shoplift. Simple logic. You were outside the store with goods from the store that were not paid for. The store could have detained you and called the police. Then it is a legal matter between you and the law not shopright. The fact you returned and paid for it is to your credit and negates the possibility of prosecution as you erred and corrected the problem before the police were called. You surely understand that. Once the police are called you can't pay. The action was converted to a legal matter. As I explained, I had a friend who managed a supermarket, the managers, there are more than one, are bond by the company policy and if they want to hold onto their jobs they have to obey the company policy.
You heard about the walmart employee who stopped a thief who had a gun by putting him in a bear hug until the police came. He was fired. Walmart policy is not to stop armed thefts. People get shot and killed. Walmart has to call the police and the staff has to just observe from a safe location.

Shopright probably didn't know you shoplifted or the police didn't yet arrive and as you returned, they had no case as you voluntarily returned and paid. Hard to make a case of that.

But, Jackal, this couple offerred to pay when approached by security. Therefore the manager DID have a choice to accept payment and not call the police, by your own admission.

So, here's a question for you. I paid for a purchase recently with a $10. The cashier gave me change as if I had paid with a $20. I put the money in my purse, but the whole way to the car was doing the math in my head, and realized I had too much change. Had I not returned the money (which I did, it's the only moral choice there is) would I have been stealing still? Could they have arrested me outside the store for taking the money out? Should the cashier be arrested for theft, after all, she is the one who gave me too much money?

I think the answer to all of those questions would be a no. The cashier made a mistake. There is a chance, being distracted, I wouldn't have caught it at all. (I'm an accountant, so the chances of that with me are slim. I do the math repeatedly in my head).

Conversely, what if I had paid with a $20, but I was given change for a $10? Would that be stealing? (It's happened, and been resolved after waiting 30 mins for them to count the drawer.) Mistakes happen. Theft is not the same as a mistake.

I am honest (I typed to a fault, but realized there is no fault in honesty). I have gotten too much change, a cashier has accidently bagged something without ringing it up, etc. I have made it right by returning the extra change, or going and paying for the item after I see it's not on my receipt. I don't condone theft at all. When I was a kid, I felt guilty for just being with my older sister when she shop-lifted (and ratted on her). I just believe mistakes happen and things sometimes need to be taken on a case by case basis.

it was after they were caught. The management has no leeway on this. It is on film, it is reported by the security guard and the manager wants to keep his job. When does he stop being a manager and a good joe ready to lose his job?
No you didn't steal. It was your moral choice to return the money or not. They could not prove you got extra money unless they had the camera on the transaction.
You really don't want to understand. The manager has no jurisdiction but to follow what his company told him to do, call the police. Call up the store and ask them. Or call up your supermarket and they will tell you the same thing! I have fought with supermarket managers all the way up to their offices on the second floor of the supermarket and they have shown me the books that are their manuals and what they have to do.
Shoplifting in the U.S. is estimated at over $10 billion dollars a year.

OMG I am a manager, and yeah, it's company policy to report any and all obvious theft to the police, but in a case such as this we have the leeway to use our brains for what they are intended. Reason it out, no, they should not have eaten before paying, but after getting lost and walking farther than intended I can see how her sugars might have been low and she needed food. I can see being a little distracted and maybe shoving the wrapper into the cart, a coat pocket, purse, what have you if her child was starting to act out as small children sometimes do. In the same situation at our store I would have asked them to wait while I personally watched the tapes and listened to their explanation. Then I would have told them our policies face to face, pointed out any signs they might have missed, and let them know that they could pay this time but in the future no such luck. Im not a bleeding heart, just human and therefore fallible. Arent we all?

Thank you Jesse..finally a voice of reason!!!! I was management in retail and restaurant's and a lot of the times it came down to old fashion common sense. I was always told policies are a guide line and 99% of the time it's by the book,but there are times when you need to look at a situation and make a judgment call..I don't think that was done here..To quick to judge this young married couple and make them out to be bad apples..Also people need to comprehend what the article actually say's..It was basically not even $10.00 it was $2.50 only ONE was eaten...so I would like to know if at least one was paid for..hummm.. Now if it turns out they are the "bad apple" then I am a big enough person to say some of you are right,BUT, we do not have any thing saying as of yet that these people are thieves..So for now I will give them both the benefit of the doubt..

So you think that "america the free" means that we should all be allowed to steal? And how does this in ANY way relate to the TSA? They stole something, they got caught. If it was an honest mistake they will have their day in court to prove it. That is how it works, for all of us, pregnant or not.

If the store says they want to press charges, the police don't have a choice. While I think that the security guard should have called a store manager first, I suspect that they had been ordered to crack down on shoplifters. Perhaps that store had been having a problem with it. I think that a pregnant woman is probably not the place to take a stand, but we don't know the full situation.

The store manager knew, don't fall for that line. The security guard would not have been able to handle the entire process on their own. When he made the decision to call police, the manager knew and allowed it. Even if the manager was not present at that second, the guard was given the authority which was poor judgement by management. They are not trained police officers and most are not educated beyond high school. It should be store policy, if not already, that management become involved when the police are to be contacted, with the exception of a true emergency.

The manager should be fired and the couple comped for the embarrassment and trauma to their child.

This isn't 'liberalism' - it's freakin' public relations. Who wants to spend a dime at Safeway now?

Quite honestly, when we start assuming the worse of a 30-week pregnant woman with a 3 year old, we've begun to deserve whatever happens to our society. Just ugly.

When my now 11 year old son was an infant and teething, I took him to a local store to buy baby Tylenol. I had to pick up some other things, and I was holding him. I slipped the Tylenol in my pocket for storage intending to pay when I left. Of course, I forgot, and didn't realize until I got home. I called the store right away, asked to speak to the manager, and advised him I would go right back and pay for it. His response, "no, it's fine, I know who you are. Just pay the next time you come in." Which I did. And guess which store always had my business?

Were they in the wrong in the black and white of things? Yes. But this world can and should work in shades of grey.

Agreed Tam. I cannot believe that DFS took that baby. FOR 18 HOURS! That is a really messed up thing to do for something like this. A big misunderstanding. I forgot to pay for dog food twice from walmart, had to go back and pay for it. It was in the bottom of the cart, and I didnt see it until I got outside. It happens.

You people are being ridiculous. The store manager was trained and he has no decision making input in this matter. All shoplifters have to be turned over to the police or he loses his job. A supermarket is shoplifted hundreds of times a day. Average loss is between $500-$1000. The court is where the jurisdiction lies not with the manager. And two sandwiches were eaten one by the husband who was not pregnant and one by the wife. There you have two adults who should know it is wrong to steal. Who do you think pays for all the security cameras and the people who have to sit in that room watching the screens all day and night and the security guards who pose as customers and the exit guards? The law clearly states you can't arrest someone in the store unless they are concealing items on their person. So these people were allowed to leave and up until they left the store they had the opportunity to turn around and pay for the food they are.

You pay for the cameras, guards, and tv screen watchers all to keep the cost of food down for YOU! YOU want to pay more for food, then drop a few dollars more in the register when you leave. After tax net margins for supermarkets is 1.0%-2.1%. They depend on volume.
Therefore you see that shoplifting affects them more than other businesses with a high margin and less shoplifting.

For you to say that shows that you have no clue what DFS is capable of. We arent against the store, we are against DFS for taking that baby without so much of a second thought.

OH! And I am not the one who would rather call the cops then allow them to pay for the sandwiches. Maybe they meant to, maybe they didnt. Doesnt make what happened to that child ok.

simple ... the store caught thieves, called cops - based on the circumstances the cops agreed it was enough to take them into custody.

They had a few hours to convience the store manager it was a simple mistake, they had the video tape - instant replay - to convience manager, the guards and the police, that it was an innocent mistake.

Everyone was wrong? except the couple!

So now, instead of going to court and letting the judge decide... this couple wants to try the case, without any evidence, in the media? Seems like a move of desperation, to disguise what seems to be an implausible excuse where the deed, the facts and the situation all point to the obvious fact - they didn't pay, they ate the evidence, got caught ... sensed they were under surveillance ...bought something as a coverand are trying to bluff their way out of it.

Except one thing... They had the wrappers for the sandwiches in their cart. I guess you didnt hear the interview. Things happen. I have forgotten to pay for dog food in the bottom of the cart once. I made it all the way outside where I saw the bag, and went back in to pay. Things do happen, especially if her 2 year old is like mine- learning to talk so it is semi difficult to tell what she is saying, and constantly "helping", being a big girl. If dad is not helping much, this could be trying to even the most weathered mother (me). I have 4 kids, and even one in the store at a time can be hard. I dont shop with my kids unless I have to. Dad watches them, or Grandma sometimes. Some of you people have no clue. I am not saying that they didnt eat them, and that was wrong, but it looks as though it is no more than being forgetful. If the wrappers were right there in the open, it doesnt seem like she was trying to take them.

Nice, can tell you are a man so never been pregnant. Too bad, you might have a little empathy.

Real decent people know and understand that none of us is perfect and sometimes mistakes are made. Real decent people wouldn't take a child away from her parents over such an issue!

Hmm... the wife was pregnant and ate one of the sandwiches. What about the SECOND sandwich? Who ate that? There were two parents there- probably enough to deal with "distractions" and remember the sandwiches at check out. This is a judgment call and could go either way. If the store had an on-going problem with this pattern of behavior, maybe they made the right call. For those who say it was an over reaction, if you had a business, what would your limit for theft be? Not $5 or 10, based on this story. Maybe $20? $25 if you are pregnant? $50 if you're attractive but $4 if you are not? Here's another question, not answered by the story: where was the packaging? In the cart as a reminder to pay, or thrown away to hide the evidence (and the UPC code)?

Umm, they offered to pay when they were caught. So the store would not have lost anything. Even if they intended to steal the sandwiches, the punishment didn't fit the crime. I don't know how $10 worth of theft should be punished, but this seems rather extreme.

JohnCarter-428979Thieves are anything but decent. Decent people don't steal. Decent people go through checkout...

Ignorant statements like these make my blood boil. When my son was about 3, my mother and I were shopping with him and she wanted to buy him a ball cap. So, we put it on his head to wear in the store. We went through the checkout with the ball cap on my son's head and proceeded to go outside. It wasn't until we were at the car when my mother, who has never been anything but a decent, upstanding, moral, law abiding citizen, realized that she didn't pay for the ball cap. Took it off my son's head and ran back into the store to pay for it. By your standards my mother was a thief and therefore anything but decent. And by your standards anyone who has made an honest mistake like the 7 1/2 month pregnant woman and her husband thieves and not decent. Lighten up, sheesh!!

Whatever happened to paying for what you want before you use or eat it? I've been in stores when I've become overheated and felt I really needed to get something to drink. It was never a problem to get a bottle of water, soda, whatever, pay for it, KEEP THE RECEIPT, and continue shopping.

If this woman was 30 weeks pregnant (and not her first time), she should be aware of the need to be on track with her eating and exertion. The fact that they took 2 sandwiches would seem to indicate that she was not the only hungry one. Having worked in retail, I've found far too many empty wrappers and containers to believe that everyone intends to pay when they get to the checkout.

Considering the fact that the rest of us get to pay for these items that people "forget" to pay for, I feel it is only right for stores to institute policies for dealing with the situation. As long as they are consistent with application of the policies, I have no problem with it. My thanks go to people who have honestly forgotten to pay for something, left the store, and then come back to pay for it.

Nice, can tell you are a man so never been pregnant. Too bad, you might have a little empathy.

So right you are... and I didn't understand Lorena Bobbitt (née Gallo) either. That's probably because I'm not a woman. Isn't that what divorce is about?

The store manager has a job to do, turn a profit, or his wife and his family are out on the street because he doesn't have a job. Maybe you don't have any empathy, because you are a woman, a pregnant woman?

Isn't that what court is about? They can plead to the court that it was all a big mistake - then run the tape, talk to the guards ... every thing will then just go away.

Since the wrappers were in the cart, MY hubby is usually too busy looking at the Kardashians to pay attention to what is going on around him, and I have been a hypoglycemic pregnant mother with a two year old in tow, in the grocery store, I can see this being an accident. I can see this very same thing happening to me (that is about the only reason I dont eat or wear things in the store), as it is fairly easy to forget the dogfood on the bottom of the cart in the right circumstances (twice I had to run in and pay for it). Stuff happens. People are forgetful, believe it or not. Not every person is a criminal.

Besides, this did not warrant a DFS removal, as the mother said they were going to work it out so that they would not be arrested at the same time, and that is wrong. Not to mention, why not contact a family member or friend? In three states, my nephews were taken away from their mother, and in all three states, they attempted to find someone in the family to take them before they placed them in state care. ALL 3. That was wrong on so many different levels.

Nice, can tell you are a man so never been pregnant. Too bad, you might have a little empathy.

Was the husband pregnant too? Surely he could have gone and paid for the food.....but why do that when you can just eat it and "forget" to pay?

They just moved there. Maybe they didnt have any friends or family there.

The cops were going to work it out so that they werent going to be arrested at the same time. They easily could have done that, and a ticket with a 50$ bond is not necessarily one that requires the person to be arrested. I recieved a possession ticket, and I was given a ticket and sent on my way, so I am sure they could have had an officer place a check on the box that says "Bond Taken". Not too hard.

HEY Wake up this is American where we are so supposedly civilized and treat people with respect. If you want to treat people like they do in the Mideast GO THERE.

But in Turkey a pregnant woman feeling faint could sit in the market, order a sandwich or something, pay for it and TNEN do her shopping.

But if she spoke out of turn in Turkey, she could also be stoned to death.

Turkey isn't Saudi, for Christ's sake - in many ways t's a pretty secular nation and pretty modern.

Yeah, all those women I saw wearing head scarves when I was there were pretty modern! I bet they feel liberated! sarc

Yeah, all those women I saw wearing head scarves when I was there were pretty modern! I bet they feel liberated! sarc

Maybe we could shove some scarfs in all the butt crack I see in the good ol USA every day.

Yeah, all those women I saw wearing head scarves when I was there were pretty modern! I bet they feel liberated! sarc

Hey, it could be a fashion choice, like wearing furcoats in LA. Don't hate... just because you can't pull off wearing a head scarf or burkka... not everyone can wear the classic outfits and pull it off with style and flair.

I've seen more American women trying to wear bikinis, thongs, short skirts - who really, I mean - really should cover up as much as possible. just because you can afford to buy a fashion, doesn't mean you can wear it!

Not the same thing, I think this needs to be on a cases by case basis.. Is she deliberately shoved the sandwiches in the coat and tried to walk out then this is a different issue.

If the FED can let the now Gov Scott of FL steal 1.3 billion dollars in Medicare funds then pay it back and no other punishment why can't a couple pay for sandwiches they mistakenly forgot to pay for. Oh, it is only for the rich that we forgive.

Thanks for clarifing the new rules. Everyone . . . from now on you eat the jewelery. Stealing is what this is about. It doesn't matter if it was a $5 sandwich, a bunch of grapes (also popular to do in a grocery store) or a bracelet in a jewelry store. What's so hard about understanding right from wrong. At what point did people start to think that it's OK to do such things as eat in a grocery store?

People make mistakes and if you've ever had kids wiht you in a grocery store you would know that it is easy to be distracted or have somehting slip your mind. Especially a pregnant woman.

At what point did people stop giving other sthe benefit of the doubt and think it is okay to do such things as remove a kid from their parents over a mistake and 10 dollars?

Danno, you are really taking this over the edge. Really? Are you saying that we should become robots that do not have judgement and live in a black and white world? I prefer that people use their brains and be able to connect the dots that results in sound judgement. Also, in business there is a cost versus benefit calculation. Do you think the cost was worth the benefit for Safeway?

I can assure if anything, they will lose customers, spend money on their image while defending theirselves in a lawsuit.

Go back and read my first post. I'm not condoning what the customer or the store did. I'm simply saying that people seem to think its OK to pay for something AFTER they've been caught stealing. Yes, in my opinion they stole the sandwiches. And what lawsuit are you refering to? This country has really lost its moral compass if theives think they can sue stores for being caught.

Book 'em, Danno!

Sorry...I just had to go there.

And whether they hid the sandwiches in their jacket or in their stomachs the result was the same...they stole from the store. There may be an explanation for it, and there apparently was, but the fact is they STOLE. What? Stealing from a grocery store is only stealing if the person who takes the product has no explanation for their actions?

We need to enforce zero tolerance for everything. Allowing unintentional mistakes,"shading" the law like going one mile an hour over the speed limit, removing the tags from matresses. When will this epidemic of lawlessness stop?

And don't forget spitting on the sidewalk.

These people should be serving 2 to 10!

People make mistakes and if you've ever had kids wiht you in a grocery store you would know that it is easy to be distracted or have somehting slip your mind. Especially a pregnant woman.

At what point did people stop giving other sthe benefit of the doubt and think it is okay to do such things as remove a kid from their parents over a mistake and 10 dollars?

Who was the woman lawyer that wanted to take away MJ's kids, because he was being a proud Poppa?

When mine were young... the wife complained that I didn't play with the kids enough. So, we (the kids and I) went out and played in the backyard. when I'd bring them back in the house, they were happy, tired and sleepy.

She was happy, or so i thought. So, after a week or so, she went with us to the park, to share the joy.

Pretty soon I was told I was being too rough, my voice was too loud, I wasn't holding them right - I was too strict, next - I was letting them get away with too much.

So much for the Joy, she found a way to suck all that out of the whole outing. Point is, men are NOT women, and your way, your point of view is not the only way to see things.kIDS ARE NOT GLASS, they can bounce and sooner or later, they will stop crying and start having fun again. Stop teching them that everything is bad, unless they are constantly happy.

In your world, is it always about men not understanding women? Pregnant women?

Quit changing the rules every 5 minutes and we might get a, consistant, clue.

I'm not sure of the point you are trying to make here and why you singled out my comment. everyone is different, and I'm not sure how your situaiton has bearing.

In your world, is it always about men not understanding women? Pregnant women?

Again, i don't know ehere you get this from my post??

Quit changing the rules every 5 minutes and we might get a, consistant, clue.

Huh?

I've noticed that "zero tolerance" usually ends up looking more like "zero judgement."

I think the article mis-reported the value of the sandwiches. Safeway sells sandwiches for $3, or $5 for 2. It was probably only $5 total.

If not, the $5 prepackaged sandwiches are pretty large, but for her to eat 2 of them, she'd have to have a really really big appetite.

You are correct Sami... The two sandwiches cost 5 dollars.

This happened to me and my mother when I was 5. She had a package of medicine that kept falling out of the slots in the cart. She sat it on her purse during shopping and it slipped inside and she forgot about it. As she was getting money out to pay, she found it. The checker alerted security.

Store security "baby sat" me while she was in there for almost three hours, before they let her go without charges. I was terrified. Alone with a stranger, with no clue of what was happening or why.

Ironically, this was also a Safeway (but about 30 years ago).

And no, this didn't teach me stealing was OK as others suggested. How absurd this idea! Also with a touch of irony, I spent several years in Asset Protection for Target and Sears. We would have considered this a textbook scenario of WHAT NOT TO DO.

HOW do you know it was an honest mistake? That's really the crux of the question isn't it? I'm as ready to believe it was deliberate as I am to believe it was a mistake. What would be a deciding factor for me is to know where the wrappings were. If they were in the cart as a reminder, I'll buy the honest mistake. If they were thrown away, then...no way, hosay. (And for those who say, well she paid for the other $50. I know people who can justify any act. The secretary who takes home a ream of paper b/c she feels she's overworked. The purchaser who fails to point out that the second pack of cigarettes didn't ring up, b/c they feel like the first pack was overpriced. The babysitter who doesn't point out that it was actually three hours, not four, because this household only pays her $6/hr instead of the normal $7. And the consumer who feels it's ok to take a pack of gum or a sandwich while in the store, b/c the food is overpriced, or the service is lousy, or...)

Guilty until proven innocent. Good call.

CMlawer? I think not. Where the hell can you pick a pack of cigarettes off the shelf yourself. What's really ironic is how much you defend your right-wing politicians for their 'Honest Mistakes' when they flip flop back and for forth on their positions at different venues. I'm sure if the story stated that they headed to Safeway after re-registering as republicans there would be nothing but defense by you righties. If it were a middle-easterner, you'd be ready to go to war. I'm not surprised by the republican responses on here in the least. And yes, you can actually tell republicans by there views on things like this.

Uhmm... what's politics got to do with this? (Click on my name, and you'll see I lean very left, by the way, just to prove you wrong.) As for assumption of guilt, how many of you have pilloried Safeway already, without hearing THEIR side of the story? My very beginning premise was "how do you know"- and the point is, we don't know whether this was an honest mistake or not. Anyone jumping to a conclusion on either side of this one, is simply jumping to a conclusion. There are not nearly enough facts in the article for a conclusion.

I wouldn't say DSS is at fault either, the cops and security guard should have used some discretion instead of flexing their authority.

Do you know the definition of a mistake? Think about the lesson the child missed when the mother tried to maturely resovle the issue by paying for the sandwich and the police were called. Think about the lesson when the mother made an innocent mistake and the child had to spend 18 hours with strangers and was too young to understand. You're small minded and probably don't have kids or an understanding of how they think. It was a toddler.

Sarcasm detector set on low today?

You evidenlty have never been pregnant and tried shopping with a 3 yr old, especially when you get to the check out and they are reaching for everything the store had put there to entice children, candy, toys, gum. Have a little symapthy for your fellow man it will not kill you.

I seriously doubt there is any more to the story! As siestasis said, you've obviously never been pregnant - you can feel fine one minute, and the next you are starving and need food to keep from fainting. Add to that a rambunctious 3 year old. That is really all there needs to be to distract parents. According to the story, they FORGOT to pay for the sandwich, they didn't CHOSE not to.

but CHOSE otherwise.

I didn;t see this fact in the article, was it even there or ar eoyu making assumptions about things you weren't there to witness. Just by the shear fact that you capitalized the word CHOSE tells me that you knkow this for a fact.

They apparently chose to NOT keep the packaging for the sandwiches in the cart or they woudn't have "forgotten." They may have CHOSEN to discard the sandwhich packages at some point. (They apparently didn't have them in the cart at check out or it wouldn't be "forgotten.") And the point remains the husband was clear of mind and should have taken responsibility to ensure the food was paid for.

And the article is also making assumptions...the reporter wasn't a witness either.

So I should be in prison then, for visiting a supermarket, buying several bulky items, including a microwave, getting to the checkout, the girl said not to remove the microwave from the trolley, she'd just scan it from where she was. When I was unpacking at the car, I noticed a box of leather coasters underneath the microwave which I had completely forgotten about. Went back in, explained what had happened, they rang up the coasters and I paid. Had it happened in this supermarket, I'd have been marched away in handcuffs, and held until they decided how much money they wanted to steal from me to punish me because I made a human error. Anyone can find themselves distracted, and forget something between the time it's put it in the trolley to the half an hour later when they're at the checkout.

I have a friend whose little boy screams the whole way round the supermarket unless she gives him something to eat. She usually grabs a packet of crisps or a piece of chocolate, which keeps him happy and allows her to get the shopping done. She keeps the wrappers and has them rung up at the till. What if one of the wrappers fell on the floor, and the security guard had seen the child eating the item? Should she be arrested and have her child placed in the care of strangers because she hasn't logged everything like a computer?

All the superhumans on here who don't feel they're subject to normal human error like the normal people among us, I think perhaps you're all in for a fall the next time you find yourself forgetting something. You forgot???? Shame on you! How dare you have a lapse in memory! What do you think you are? A human being, or something?

If a security guard was paying attention you would have been taken aside for shoplifting if they did notice you took the coasters out of the store.

It happened to my sister when we were kids...there was a free periodicals display at the front of the store...or so she thought. It turned out one of the periodicals she picked up was a news paper that should be paid for. She just got a slap on the wrist for taking the paper, nothing major. The store staff were just doing their jobs for calling her out on it.

And it would have been like any other shoplifting situation...a slap on the wrist. Which is what the parents with the sandwiches got as well. People are clearly overreacting when saying that everybody then should get 2-4 years in prison. Nobody is saying that. NOBODY.

They may have gotten a slap on the wrist, but their daughter got the trauma of being taken away from her parents and placed with strangers.

Having a pregnant wife and 3 year old can lead a man to not have a clear mind! lol I just love all these posts from people who have never been in this type of life situation.

What's worse are the ones who have been in the same situation but would never attribute the same reason to the next persons situation.

Oh heck. Most parents have been in a situation like this. I remember running out of a store in the mall- unpaid merchandise in hand- to chase down an errant toddler. And the store believed me when I brought the item back a few minuts later. Safeway did not believe this woman. Maybe they observed something in this couple's behavior or have a shoplifting problem we don't know about that made their decision to call the police reasonable under these circumstances. Or maybe they over-reacted and the sandwich eating couple really made an honest mistate. How can anyone be sure with the little bit of information in the story?

i see kids breaking into the cookies all the time. Checkers never made a big deal about it. Technically, eating some grapes would reduce the weight and they're sold by weight but most kids will go for boxed junkfood everytime.

Obviously, your a much better businessman than the idiot manager at the Safeway. I don't care if they're really guilty, overreacting like that is really bad publicity for your business. For the cost of a couple of sandwiches, they're probably going to lose thousands of dollars of business because customers will perceive them as jerks who pick on pregnant ladies and do their shopping elsewhere.

I've always been a bit creeped out by the "eat while your shopping thing", but I wouldn't want a 7 month pregnant woman passed out in the aisle, either.

When you have kids to watch and one of you is pregnant I'd say that it is a little more difficult than alot of poeple on here realize. For one, they walked to the grocery store, so you know that the pregnant lady is tired, and the kid probably is too, meaning that they ar ecomplaining and wanting to go home, add all that to the bustle of a grocery store and it is not hard ot see how this could have happened.

I get what you are saying keith - but having raised two kids myself, I never had this problem - and I've been to the grocery story hungry and with the kids many a time. Usually end up buying too much stuff when that happens, but I don't rip open a bag of chips and start chowing down. That's just stupidity, plain and simple.

People make mistakes, just because you didn't make this particular mistake doesn't mean that somebody else couldn't. I don't rip into things either, but I'm pretty sure that if my pregnant wife was hungry, we had just walked to the grocery store with our 3 year old, and we wanted to get out of there quickly especially if the kid is cranky and wants to go home, I would probably give my wife a sandwich to eat too, then place it in the cart to pay at the register rather than have to prolong the agony over a five dollar sandwich, but then again, I would not have let them take my kid in this situaiton without there being alot more of a scene, especially if it was a mistake.

Elvoid is dead-on. People like this need to live in the real world and not the one they create in their head. In their mind - they were hungry, food was right there, they were going to pay. It was so obvious to them that anyone else should have known just what they were thinking, right? WRONG! How was the store to distinguish their grazing from those who will do the same with no intention to pay? And yes, that happens quite frequently. Most of us know that grocery stores are not restaurants. You don't pick off the shelf, eat, and then pay. You pick, pay, then eat. Not too hard of a concept. Once they broke this little rule, the store and police then had their own rules to follow. They broke the law and while under arrest no longer have any right to dictate subsequent actions - even regarding their child. Their child was taken care of and if there was any emotional trauma for the child or the parents, the parents can only blame themselves.

Even the fact that they walked that far to the grocery store that she got faint, bothers me. It indicates a shortage of money (didn't have/couldn't afford transportation) or possibly a need to go where you aren't recognized, or just plain bad decision making, all of which make it more likely that she committed theft. Once in the store, if it's that bad, you either pay first, or make a point of finding a store clerk and letting them know the situation and that you will pay at check out. And then you put the empty wrapper right on top so you can't forget. Let's not forget the husband was there, too. So he could have paid while she shopped. Or shopped while she paid and ate. Or at least, remembered at checkout. For the record, the husband's blood sugar is NOT affected by the wife's pregnancy. (I have, in extremis, opened the tissues at Target, told the first clerk I saw what I had done, and put the box prominently on top. I've done the same with a bottle of water when hit with a choking fit. And once with a soda when hit with dizziness in a long -30 minute minimum- check out line. So I understand it can be innocent. But I have my doubts in this case...)

Keith - you are making excuses based on hypotheticals. the facts are simple:

1. Yes, the store could have handled this better.

2. Grazing in a grocery store before paying is idiotic and shouldn't be done. I'm sorry - but short of a life threatening situation, there isn't anyone that can't wait the few minutes (a VERY few minutes) to pay before eating.

It really is that simple.

And lest anyone gets the wrong idea about my use of the word "idiotic":

People choose to do idiotic things all the time. Myself included.

I've run red lights at 1 a.m when no one was around and I was in a hurry. I've made illegal u-turns. I often exceded the speed limit. I'm sure there are other examples I could come up with not involving traffic laws, but there you have it.

My point is - in all those examples - I should not be the least surprised if my actions result in a consequence - even if I honestly did not see that illegal u-turn sign, of honestly thought I was in a 45 mph zone, etc..

So why aren't you in jail? If you've done all those illegal acts you should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Drive to your nesrest law enforcement agency immediately and confess.

After all, the law is the law...

I guess as nothing more than a severed head in a jar, I can excuse you for being so ridiculously obtuse.

I'll try to help:

When you do something "wrong" and get caught, expect to pay a price whether the offense was intentional or not. Up to the discretion of the authority catching you, of course, and I've already said, that in my opinion, this authority overreacted. This authority did not take the route I would have preferred, which is why I've said both sides were rather idiotic.

I side with this sentiment. The parents playing the pregnancy card only works for ONE of them. The husband didn't report feeling dizzy or sick at all. He could have hung on to the wrappers/UPC code to ensure they paid for the food when they got to the register. They felt a sense of self-entitlement, got caught, and now are trying to weasle their way out of this to make themselves look like the victims. And anybody who falls for this is a fool themselves.

People are making alot of assumptions about thigns that they were not their to witness. A simple review of a security video would easily tell if there was malicious intent or not.

How would the video reveal their intentions? They took the sandwiches for one reason or another...malicious or not, it's still shop lifting.

I've been seven months pregnant, with a three year old, and had my blood sugar drop before. It's not pretty. Luckily, I never had it happen in the middle of the store, but I can see this situation happening. Sometimes it hits so hard you don't have the five or more minutes to wait to get through the checkout. They quite possibly saved the wrappers in the cart, and either the three year old tossed them out or they were missed at checkout. It's also possible the three year old was fussy, so dad carried her away from the register while mom finished checking out. The mom, still a bit out of it from the blood sugar crash plus energetic kid, did not notice the wrappers that shifted to the bottom of the basket and/or disappeared, and forgot to mention it to the cashier. The store went way overboard- they didn't deny it, and offered to pay.

She's 30 weeks pregnant, she probably ate BOTH the sandwiches. It doesn't take a detective to figure that one out. Or, more likely, she has a toddler with her. "I want a sandwich, too!" Bam. There you go, Sherlock. I solved the case of the two sandwiches.

As a mother of 3 and grandmother of 5, if you get that rattled from shopping with a 3 year old, I don't think you should be planning more children! Cheez! Exercise a little control! Only knowing where the wrappers ended up will tell us their intentions. Plus, had they ever done anything like this before??? Not known.

Read the article, folks! It says that she saved the wrappers to pay for them when they checked out! I have been in a store before and left something in the cart - out of sight to me - and had the clerk point it out to me. It can happen to anyone. Give the woman a break before condemning her!

The store manager should have more sense than to pursue the case to the point that he/she did. After they explained what had happened, the obvious thing would be to let them pay and let them go. But apparently the manager did not have the internal gumption to make that call, and let the situation get out of hand. Hopefully Safeway will rescind the ban on this couple shopping at their stores, and will dismiss the charges.

The fact that this couple went to the media with their plight removes any doubt in my mind that they are who and what they say they are.

Dan- just an FYI- the original article didn't mention what happened to the wrapper(s).

Just wondering- guess the store wouldn't have a problem with someone having one of their cashiers arrested if an item didn't make it into the bags after being scanned and paid for?