Felony?

[CommonGoal]

Recently I caught a lady doing a fraud refund at my store. Basically she came into the store took something off the shelf and refunded it at the service desk for a gift card (no receipt). The total amount was around 85.00. Anyway when the Officer showed up he told the shoplifter that this was a felony offense and thats what he charged her with.

In my state the felony amount for stealing is 500.00. I was under the impresion that no stealing under 500 could be considered a felony. Don't get me wrong if it flies thats great I won't have to go to court. I have worked in other Cities and have had these cases before but they have always been city charges.

[TheMP5guy]

It used to be $500 here years ago. It's now $5000 probably due to court back log.

[Bearcat357]

Recently I caught a lady doing a fraud refund at my store. Basically she came into the store took something off the shelf and refunded it at the service desk for a gift card (no receipt). The total amount was around 85.00. Anyway when the Officer showed up he told the shoplifter that this was a felony offense and thats what he charged her with.

In my state the felony amount for stealing is 500.00. I was under the impresion that no stealing under 500 could be considered a felony. Don't get me wrong if it flies thats great I won't have to go to court. I have worked in other Cities and have had these cases before but they have always been city charges.

Not sure how he's doing that....as you are correct. Felony Theft in Missouri is 500 bucks. Would be interesting to hear what he actually charged her with......

[ateamer]

Burglary? Entry of a building with intent to commit theft or any felony. If she had the idea to run the scam when she walked in through the doors, she committed burglary.

[Bearcat357]

Burglary? Entry of a building with intent to commit theft or any felony. If she had the idea to run the scam when she walked in through the doors, she committed burglary.

Maybe......if he can pull that off, good for him. My PA back in MO would have never allowed that.....but you never know.....

My brother manages a large Target in Missouri and he gets that all the time......I will have to ask if any of the thieves has been charged with a felony....as I am curious now.....

[BlueLineBrad]

Nothing I hate worse than a damn thief and a liar, well I hate murderers more... ok hell with it i hate all criminals equally.. im an equal criminal hater.

[SgtScott31]

I always wondered about that too since shoplifters are coming into a building with the intent to commit a theft. It also fits our burglary statute in TN (technically). I would assume that it doesn't apply to businesses that are open during normal hours. Breaking into the retail store after hours and committing theft is probably what the court's accept as burglary.

[ateamer]

Can't answer for Tennessee, but California courts will accept it. There is nothing in the statute limiting it to closed businesses. The hard thing is proving intent. Usually, it takes an admission from the suspect.

[Fuzz]

Can't answer for Tennessee, but California courts will accept it. There is nothing in the statute limiting it to closed businesses. The hard thing is proving intent. Usually, it takes an admission from the suspect.

That is very true....short of the suspect having a "booster bag", tools to open CD/DVD cases, etc .... it takes an admission. Those arent that hard to come by though since most of the thieves "aint bee too smarts". The ones that are Pros though know the routine and are pretty good at it.

[CommonGoal]

Well in the instance I first described the SL came in and got a sicker on a pair of jeans she said she wanted to refund. She then instead of going to the service desk went to another area of the store where she selected a high dollar amount item. She then took the sticker off the item she came in with and put it on the higher dollar item. She then went to the desk and refunded it. You only get this sticker if you intend to get a refund on the item you came in with. I suppose you could prove they had intentions of stealing the moment they received the sticker at the door. But I don't know...........next time I see the Officer who took the report I will ask him what he ended up charging her with.

[Northtechsan]

The officer is probably charging her with a Fraud charge and not a Theft. Not sure about MO, but in Texas I can charge that offense two ways. As a Misdemeanor theft or because the suspect used a gift card i can charge as a felony Debit Card Abuse (Gift cards meet the legal definition of debit cards).

[Matt218]

I do Loss Prevention on the side, heres my info I feel I should contribute.

In the State of Arizona, $250 is the SHOPLIFTING felony limit. $1000 is the THEFT felony limit. Any form of shoplifting or fraudulent activities can get you a felony charge. (3rd Degree Burglary can be applied to a shoplifter). "Booster Bagging" is also a felony. When you conceal merchandise in a bag for that specific store to appear as if you have paid for everything.

If anyone uses a weapon (apperantly knives don't apply, but thats a whole nother set of charges) in the commission of shoplifting, it turns into Felony Shoplifting.

[Sabre]

Maybe burglary, or maybe Missouri has some kind of fraud law that covers her fraudulent return of the product in exchance for goods.

[Bearcat357]

or maybe Missouri has some kind of fraud law that covers her fraudulent return of the product in exchance for goods.

Not unless it was inacted in the last year or so.....and I went to a legal update class last year and it was never mentioned....

[Tim Dees]

Burglary? Entry of a building with intent to commit theft or any felony. If she had the idea to run the scam when she walked in through the doors, she committed burglary.

By local policy, we would only charge burglary on a shoplifter if they were caught with special shoplifting gear (booster coats or boxes, foil-lined shopping bags, etc.) or if they entered a store, took something, left with it, and then re-entered and did the same thing again. The more savvy LP people would put an agent in the parking lot to swoop down on the suspect if they made a move to leave the lot after the first incident, but would just let them complete the act if they decided to go for round two. The idea was to show they had the intent when they entered the store - tough to do on theft #1, but very easy for theft #2. Those burglary charges flew, too. One memorable case was felony #3 for a female shoplifter, and the DA was able to get in the habitual criminal enhancement. 20 to life, bye-bye. That might seem harsh, but we all figured she was costing the city economy hundreds a day with your thefts to support her meth habit.