Home Depot clerk screws up, veteran get arrested for shoplifting.

WTMJ - Sykes Writes ^ | Charlie Sykes

[flashbunny]

THE HOME DEPOT STORY

Here's the email about the shoplifting arrest at Home Depot:

Charlie,

My local Home Depot store had arrested my son for shoplifting. They claim he stole a $9.90 skill saw blade. Let me give you a little more background. My son is 29 yrs old, he had just purchased my house for his family, and I told him to go to Home Depot and buy whatever he needed to make changes to the house and charge it to my Home Depot credit account. We figured two to five thousand dollars should be enough to get it ready for his wife and kids. This was his third major purchase. This purchase totaled $868.00.

While shopping at this Home Depot store, he was using a large push cart, not the kind with the basket but the kind with the flat bottom, because he was planning on buying kitchen cabinets and related items. When he arrived at the checkout line a clerk came over, and said he could help him at a different register. My son assumed it was because he had such a large order, it would speed up other shoppers checking out. As the clerk began scanning the items he notices a crack in one of the crown moldings and suggested my son get a different crown molding, which my son did. When my son got back the clerk scanned the molding and gave my son the receipt to sign.

As my son was leaving the store, he went through the detectors and the alarm sounded. My son stopped, asked the clerk if everything was checked out. To which the clerk nodded yes and motioned for my son to leave. My son left the store, unloaded the items into a truck, and was returning the push cart to the cart corral when he was grabbed by the shoulder and told he was being arrested for shoplifting. He replied that there must be some mistake, and was told that since he didn't know how to pay for the saw blade he sure knew how to unload it. My son still didn't understand but figured he go back in and get this straightened out. The West Allis police were called and he was arrested for shoplifting a $9.90 saw blade after spending $868.00 on other items. Remember this was all going on my charge account and he wasn't paying for anything, so why would he care about another ten bucks. He would have spent another hundred if he could have fit it on the cart.

What's the big deal about a shoplifting ticket? You pay the $262.00 and forget about. Right? Not in this case. You see my son was medically discharged from the Air Force. He qualifies as a service-disabled veteran and as such also qualifies for certain small business government set-asides. He has started a small business, as a distributor and prime contractor, and had started servicing his first government contract as of 1 July 05. He has at least two dozen current proposals for other contracts in the works. Future contracts will require a Top Secret clearance, which will be impossible to get if his record contains a shoplifting arrest. He is currently negotiating the installation of a video surveillance system for a military installation. What if they check his record and find a shoplifting arrest?

So we decide we have to hire a lawyer to initially try to clear this up. We're a thousand buck into it and we really can't afford more, but it will cost more. If we decide to sue for false arrest our legal bill will be over $20,000(A rough figure given by an attorney). Those hours add up at over $300/Hr. This will not be a high judgement case so it's not very attractive to most attorneys. Any suggestions?
John Gaidosh

[flashbunny]

This has been on local talk radio this morning. The hosts said they waited to get the police report to see if there was something else in the report that would make home depot look better. There isn't. It looks like home depot screwed up bad and is letting this guy get screwed over because of a cashier's mistake. The clerk rang up the items while the customer was away exchanging it for a new molding. He wasn't even there when the sawblade should have been scanned, and when he got back he was told everything was scanned. I'm done with home depot.

BTW, the number for the home depot in question is (414)329-1366. Just purely for informational purposes.

[Pondman88]

Hmmmm. Seems like an innocent mistake which HD should drop charges over, if the story is true. Try climbing the corporate muckity-muck ladder at HD.

[frogjerk]

Let's go to the videotape!

[Sans-Culotte]

Is this for real? It sounds sorta "urban-legendy".

[arbusto99]

Suggestion #1 would be to get the local media involved. TV is better than radio. What you need to do is make Home Depot see that they stand more to lose by pushing this than they stand to gain.

[flashbunny]

Unfortunately, Home depot won't release the video tape to the public. Maybe the DA will get some sense and demand he see any videotape before he pursues the case further.

[flashbunny]

No, it's real. It's on the radio right now.

http://www.620wtmj.com/620listenlive/index-new-alt.asp

You can listen to the audio stream right now.

[TomB]

I agree, this doesn't smell right.

I can't count the number of times I've set off the detectors at HD or Lowes, and I've never had the cops called on me.

One thing is for sure, to blame Home Depot, as a corporation, for this is stupid.

[arbusto99]

One thing that stands out

: If we decide to sue for false arrest our legal bill will be over $20,000(A rough figure given by an attorney). Those hours add up at over $300/Hr.

I don't see how you can sue for false arrest, since you'd be suing the cops in that scenario, not Home Depot. Why not sue Home Depot--since presumably there is video that would confirm your sons' story--and find an attorney who will take the case pro bono, and will only collect if you win a settlement?

[blau993]

I am a little surprised at the police not questioning this arrest. The Home Depot stroy sounds implausible, and your son's story sounds quite plausible. Most LEOs I know would try to get this resolved without having to make what at best looks like a very questionable arrest.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I checked Snopes and didn't get any info.

[onef]

At this point I would suggest that you return the the entire purchase. Thank you, but I will now need the money that I had spent on court costs and other fees.

[tobyhill]

File a civil suit against the cashier for the maximum in small claims court then Home Depot would be forced to testify on her behalf then any contradictory statements could be used at his hearing if it happens. More than likely HD would ask for $10 and then drop the charges if the suit is dropped.

[savedbygrace]

Where is this Home Depot store located? In case somebody might want to make a little phone call to Home Depot's:

Corporate Office
For questions about corporate issues such as donation requests, investor relations, media relations, public relations, marketing, vendor relations and community affairs, call our Corporate Office. Call 770-433-8211

[flashbunny]

In most cases, TV is betterm, but wtmj is the biggest radio station in the state and when they stay with a story, they get stuff done. Like getting the milwaukee county supervisor recalled.

[flashbunny]

that's because it just happened, and it's being covered right this moment on talk radio, who has read the actual police report.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Sounds liek it ought to be fairly easy to prove that it was an oversight on the part of the clerk and that there was no intention to break the law.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I hope it gets resolved properly... stupid clerks pi$$ me off.

[Horatio Gates]

Maybe the DA will get some sense and demand he see any videotape before he pursues the case further.

For $9.90 I'd be surprised if the charges are not dropped by the DA. If accurate the matter still sucks since there will be a record of the arrest anyway unless there's a way to get it purged that I'm not aware of.

[flashbunny]

West Allis
11071 W National
West Allis, WI 53227
(414)329-1366