Posted on 11/01/2011 8:26:21 AM PDT by Mat_Helm
HONOLULU (AP) — Nicole Leszczynski couldn't imagine that two chicken salad sandwiches would land her and her husband in jail and her 2-year-old daughter in state custody. But it happened five days ago, when the 30-weeks-pregnant woman forgot to pay for her snack while grocery shopping. "It was the most ridiculous chain of events that happened," she said while sobbing Monday. "It's still hard to believe what happened." Leszczynski, 28, and her husband Marcin, 33, were handcuffed, searched then released on $50 bail each. Their ordeal at the police station lasted a few hours, but their daughter Zofia spent the night away from her parents in a case that has sparked nationwide outrage and forced the Safeway supermarket chain to review the incident. The family had moved to an apartment near downtown Honolulu from California two weeks ago. Still settling in, they ventured out Wednesday to stock up on groceries, took the bus, got lost, and ended up at a Safeway supermarket. 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. But they forgot to pay for the sandwiches as they checked out with about $50 worth of groceries. "When the security guard questioned us, I was really embarrassed, I was horrified," she said. They were led upstairs, where the couple expected to get a lecture, pay for the sandwiches, and be allowed on their way. But store managers wouldn't allow them to pay for the sandwiches, she said. "I asked to talk to a manager and he said it was against their policy to pay for items that left the store," she said. "The security guard said we were being charged with shoplifting."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
—They probably will sue, and get a nice tidy sum, in spite of the fact that they stole the sandwiches.—
I don’t know that that will work. I think Safeway can lose in the court of public opinion now, but if the couple sues, they will need to show that they did not give safeway justification to hold them for arrest. Did they or did they not leave the store without paying?
If they were as innocent as they say, the best course would be to try to get Safeway to drop the charges and walk away, a bit wiser.
All things considered I think this family has a good case.
This is one side of the story.
Many people eat food in grocery stores and leave wrappers and half eaten goods strewn all over the place.
How do you decide one person is allowed to steal with impunity while another is not?
Welcome to the new America.
Where were the wrappers?
If they were in the chopping basket where they belong, then the clerk is to blame, along with the overreaction.
If they were discarded or hidden, then these folks are criminals.
—It is unlikely they would have paid for them if they had not been caught.—
I’ve accidentally walked out of stores and not paid for stuff lots of times in my life. Every time I go back and pay except once. I had a ten pack of film under a big bag of dogfood at Costco and both me and the clerk missed it. I left it in the car to pay the next day but forgot. A couple months later I found it under one of my seats and tried again but it just never happened.
Fortunately the statute of limitations is up on it or I’d never be confessing. ;-)
The hardware store where I work just recently started carrying drinks and snacks up by the registers. In the first week, we lost over $220 worth of food and drink to shoplifting. We were missing 17 Snickers bars, yet had only sold 4, which is just one example among many.
IUf Safeway had pulled that crap in a black neighborhood in Washington DC, the store would be burning even as we speak.
Sometimes Common sense should enter into the picture.
Common sense on both sides.
Since 1980 the US prison population has increased by 500%. We are truly the worlds largest penal colony. It is the modern American’s solution to every problem.
—pissoff newbie—
Heh, heh. You think I was born the day I selected this particular id?
Show some class, man. This isn’t DU.
I don’t think most people who are honest know all the ways these stores get ripped off. I worked retail for 6 years.
The managers are held somewhat accountable for loss.
I believe they went too far with this. I think they should have let her pay for the sandwiches this time, but I also know that loss prevention is important to the bottom line. After all, the consumer has those costs built into their purchase prices.
“Grazing” is a popular past-time in DC-area supermarkets. It’s common to see half-eaten doughnuts, candy wrappers, and empty juice boxes littering the aisles here.
Raymond’s dad on “Everybody Loves Raymond” did a segment where the Dad always took a handful of nuts when they went by the fruit portion of the supermarket. It didn’t turn out any better there.
How long till this storyline turns up in an episode of the new Hawaii Five-0 series?
AND 50.00 in groceries in Hawaii.
Where milk is 3.49 and bread is 2.50.
Should have eaten at Tsukenjo’s lunch truck.
If you eat something in a grocery store before you pay for it, that's stealing - if you're that famished, eat before you shop.
I feel badly for the child - but the parents seem to think Safeway (and maybe the rest of us) owe them something.
I had something similar a few weeks ago. We were at Sam’s Club. My 12 year old son was complaining about being light headed and thirsty. We told him he could get some water in the car in a few minutes. He then has a brief seizure and passed out. When he came to, I grabbed the nearest case of water and ripped one open while he was laying on the floor. Of course, instead og grabbing the $3 case of water, I grabbed the $10 case of “Vitamin Water”. Even though we almost never buy any kind of bottled water, especially not the real ripoff stuff, we just put the case in our cart and bought it.
“She openly munched on one while they shopped. ...”
Who DOES that? She hasn’t purchased it, and yet she’s consuming it? Can she not wait until she’s bought the sandwich before she eats it?
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