My Experience: Getting Caught and Charged

(The censored parts of the story are there to protect the identities of myself and the other people involved!)

MY STORY:

A while ago, I had gone to the store with the person who I had been shoplifting with for a while. We would both be lookouts for each other and help distract employees and other shoppers from where the other was concealing merchandise. It had been working out pretty well for both of us, until the day that the person (who will be referred to from here on out as Steve) got caught because they were being too cocky and decided to try to blame me for the entire crime.

We went to *store* one day, after hitting several other stores in the area. We had planned that this would be the last hit of the day since it was getting late and the car was already pretty much full of other stolen merchandise. So we walked into the store together and both went and did our own thing. I walked around and didn't see anything that I particularly wanted, so I just kinda hung out and looked at random stuff until everyone was ready to leave. Steve, however, filled the cart with several hundred dollars worth of *merchandise* and started the walk around the store to find some good places to conceal everything in the flat empty bag that was in the child seat of the cart. I knew that one of the employees (the store manager to be exact) was following Steve around, and I told Steve to just put everything back because they were being followed. Steve decided that they were too good to get caught, so they walked to another aisle across the store and started peeling security tags off of things and stuffing them into the bag as fast as possible without checking around for anything that would get them caught, cameras, other people, mirrors, etc. All of the security tags got shoved in one area of a nearby shelf, and were picked up by the store manager as evidence. The manager knew exactly where to look, because they had been watching from the other side of the aisle through a mirror. I hadn't seen where Steve went to conceal everything, so I was just walking around when I happened to go into the same aisle as them. This helped Steve's story that I was part of the theft, because we were seen together multiple times. So after Steve got done filling the bag, they immediately started for the exit without trying to look nonchalant or check for anyone who was following. Right before Steve got to the door, they stopped and tried to get me to walk out with them. I refused to do it because I knew they were gonna get caught, so I told Steve that this was their last chance to put everything back or get in trouble and I walked out on my own without getting stopped and went to wait in the car until we could leave. About a minute later, Steve's mom walks out and Steve followed, setting off the alarm at the door and getting physically pulled back into the store. When Steve and their mom got to the back room of the store, they decided that they would try to pin the blame on me so that Steve wouldn't get kicked out of *extracurricular school activity* and so they could avoid having a criminal record. After Steve and their mom got done blaming me, I was told to come back into the store and I did so willingly because I knew better than to try to escape and end up with worse charges than I was already gonna be stuck with. When I got to the back, a cop was already there and the merchandise had already been totaled up to the price of almost 500 dollars worth of *specific items*. If the blame had all been on one person, this would have been a felony shoplifting charge. But since I was dragged into the whole mess, it was split down the middle and we both got misdemeanor charges and the cost of reimbursing the store for the items was split down the middle. We both got a year of probation (which wouldn't increase as long as we both stayed out of trouble and did what the court ordered we do), having to keep our grades up in school, about 200 dollars each in reimbursement costs, about 200 in court fees, 30 hours of community service, and we both had to get fingerprinted at the police station. Steve and I are both under 18, so the charges will go away once we are legally adults. Steve has been attracting a lot of attention because they are skipping school and trying to act like probation is all fun and games. Steve thinks that just because they have the fine paid off that they are untouchable. But probation has been a lot harder on Steve with grades and community service since they are being an ass. Probation has pretty much left me alone except for biweekly appointments and the occasional house check. I haven't paid any of my fine or done any community service and my grades are for the most part barely passing, but since I'm not causing trouble they aren't really pushing the issue. We are about halfway through the probation sentence, and as long as the community service and fines are paid by the end, there won't be any further charges or punishment. I should be off probation just before I turn 18, so I won't have to worry about the charges following me my whole life. Steve, on the other hand, has been acting like a little trailer trash gutter punk, so they will be on probation a whooooolllle lot longer for bad behavior. Sounds to me like Karma is coming back to bite Steve in the ass.

Anyways, that is the story of how I got "caught" shoplifting. Hopefully you all can learn from my experience, and the most important take away from this incident in my opinion is to TRUST NO ONE!


                                                                   IllegalExpertGirl