donsrods
Well-known member
I work in a retail marine store and we lose a lot of product to theft. Every day I find some empty packaging stuffed behind something and our company refuses to give us enough payroll to adequately staff the store so we can watch what customers are up to.
Monday, it all changed ! A young guy comes in and the first words out of his mouth when I offered to help him was "I just have a little Jon boat, but I like looking at this stuff." Then a few minutes later I find a couple hundred dollar shore power adapter sitting where it didn't belong, so I started to put it back, but he says "Oh, that is mine, I set it there because I don't have a cart !"
I went and got him a cart and now the flags are going up because what does a guy with a Jon boat need that for ? So I got on the radios we all carry and tell everyone working that we have someone we have to watch. He continued to shop and we were on him like white on rice, staying close and watching him. More stuff went into the cart and he walked up and down every aisle several times in the half hour he was in there.
One of my coworkers saw him put a Leatherman knife set under his shirt, and then the guy asked where the dressing room is so he can try on a pair of shorts. While he was in there I watched him because the panel on that room doesn't go all the way to the floor, so I could see his feet. He was in there for a while and when he came out all the stuff in the cart was gone and his backpack looked pretty full.
I called the police and they got there in about a minute. One cop walked up to him and asked to speak with him and he got all defensive. The cop said "We want to look into your backpack," and they took him aside to check it out. He said "Well, I have some items in there because I didn't want to carry them in my hands (but he had a shopping cart )
Long story short, they found $ 486.00 worth of product in his bag and they found the knife stuffed down the front of his pants, so he left in handcuffs. [cl[cl We all felt so great because this is the first time we actually caught one of these lowlifes, and we are pressing charges. Since it is over $400 it is a felony, and they have him on $10,000 bond.
Oh, and I said to the one cop " I notice you are hauling people out of the grocery store at least once a week" and he said, "That is nothing, we arrest 5 -6 people a day at Walmart !"
At least we got one idiot off the streets for a while ! [cl[cl[cl
Don
Monday, it all changed ! A young guy comes in and the first words out of his mouth when I offered to help him was "I just have a little Jon boat, but I like looking at this stuff." Then a few minutes later I find a couple hundred dollar shore power adapter sitting where it didn't belong, so I started to put it back, but he says "Oh, that is mine, I set it there because I don't have a cart !"
I went and got him a cart and now the flags are going up because what does a guy with a Jon boat need that for ? So I got on the radios we all carry and tell everyone working that we have someone we have to watch. He continued to shop and we were on him like white on rice, staying close and watching him. More stuff went into the cart and he walked up and down every aisle several times in the half hour he was in there.
One of my coworkers saw him put a Leatherman knife set under his shirt, and then the guy asked where the dressing room is so he can try on a pair of shorts. While he was in there I watched him because the panel on that room doesn't go all the way to the floor, so I could see his feet. He was in there for a while and when he came out all the stuff in the cart was gone and his backpack looked pretty full.
I called the police and they got there in about a minute. One cop walked up to him and asked to speak with him and he got all defensive. The cop said "We want to look into your backpack," and they took him aside to check it out. He said "Well, I have some items in there because I didn't want to carry them in my hands (but he had a shopping cart )
Long story short, they found $ 486.00 worth of product in his bag and they found the knife stuffed down the front of his pants, so he left in handcuffs. [cl[cl We all felt so great because this is the first time we actually caught one of these lowlifes, and we are pressing charges. Since it is over $400 it is a felony, and they have him on $10,000 bond.
Oh, and I said to the one cop " I notice you are hauling people out of the grocery store at least once a week" and he said, "That is nothing, we arrest 5 -6 people a day at Walmart !"
At least we got one idiot off the streets for a while ! [cl[cl[cl
Don