Took six months to get this out...

reply to post by nightstalker78


Not true. I was on Beale St. in Memphis last year and was pretty drunk. I went inside a store with music paraphenalia and I grabbed 2 $3 boxs of incense that i saw, as I went to check out I spotted a cool Bob Dylan t-shirt so I sat the incense down ontop of the rack while I was lookinv at the shirt. The incense fell so i picked it up and put it in the same place when it fell again I stuck it in my back pocket where anyone could see it sticking out no sooner had I done that when a cashier starts yelling thief and even though I had over $100 in cash and my atm card and even offered to pay double or triple for the $6 worth she still had me arrested I even told the cops I offered to pay so they got the cashier to call the owner and tell him that I offered more money and even he said to arrest me. luckily the judge dropped the charges once he reviewed the evidence (surveilence tape) but that wouldn't have happened without me hiring a lawyer.

reply to post by geldib


Sounds to me that you were just SOL then. For all you or I know that store has a major problem with theft.Usually the smaller stores are willing to prosecute before major chains stores will over a small amount.In other words there's usually some kind of protocal that has to be followed that you don't see in the smaller privately owned stores.

reply to post by nightstalker78


I thought about that (it being a smaller privately owned place and not a major retailer.) after I replied. Atleast in the end the judge threw it out and expunged the record of my arrest. Anyway the key is to play their game and let them feel high and mighty, do what needs to be done to get it finished then do whatever you want after. It took my 15 years of receiving the max punishment on petty misdemeanors to figure that out, and never admit guilt even when caught red handed and always have a lawyer when you go to court.

Funny that this happened at wal-mart.
I hate shopping there but occasionally I have to because they are the only place in town that carries certain things.

My kids and I were walking out the door one day and an item we purchased set of the alarm, we waited around for someone to come check my receipt and they never did. A few days later we had to go back and my one of my kids watch a man pocketing items. My kids and I tracked down a sales person and alerted them. As we were leaving the man left at the same time and set off the alarms. No one did anything, so my kids became very distressed so we went and told another clerk. The response was "Oh well, it happens all the time, not much we can do about it, and we aren't allowed to go after them." (well something close to that) I was furious about the message they were sending to my kids. Go ahead and steal, you won't get caught.

Now I read your story and I am even more furious.

Let a real thief go, send a message to kids that thief's don't get caught, and then send someone to jail for accidentally pocketing something. And I can easily see how that can happen, when my hands are full and I am trying to pick something up, I'll put what ever is in my hand in my pocket with out thinking about it so I can pick another item up. Of course this is generally around the house, but I can see it happening.

reply to post by geldib


The pre-trial diversion is not a court order, it is a contract, that if broken will, or could, result in the orginal charges being re-filed by the PA.

I am still debating on whether to comply or just let them re-charge me and take it to trial. I have been doing some research but the task is daunting, since no source will have a direct answer to my questions.

~Rev

This was absolutely a case of accidentally sticking a baseball in my pocket while having a handful of other iems, while trying to pick up a mess I made of the display of baseballs. The baseballs were not in any wrapper, or packaging of any sort.

I have had alot of time to rehash that last visit to walmart, and have concluded that when I disturbed the display and sent baseballs across the floor, I drew attention from someone who worked there, loss prevention, or just a shelf stocker, I don't know.

Then I put one in my pocket, they then followed me and watched me shop for mantles for my lantern, and batteries.

After I reunited with my wife, I placed the five or six items in my hands in the cart, and we proceeded to the check-out. As soon as I hit the door, they were around me.

I was told to put all of walmarts stuff in a tupperware bowl, and all my stuff in another bowl. So they got their ball and asked where the rest was...there was none.

The police officer, frisked me down and confirmed that I was not in possession of any more of their merchandise.

I was then arrested and taken to jail to see the judge in the morning. I bonded out on a $4500.00.

I paid $450.00 plus a $55.00 service fee to use the ATM at the jail.

OR

I could've called a bail bondsman and let them have my money. At least by using the sheriff's ATM, my money, minus confinement fees, and court costs, was refunded to me.

The money that was in my pocket at the time of my arrest was returned to me minus $2 for laundry, and storage of my personal affects. It was on a VISA pre-paid card that had several rules you had to follow to get your money back. A deputy urged me to remove the money from the card right away, or risk losing it to fees.