I'd mentioned I'd post this, so here you go.
It started when, at about 5 to close, a young lady comes in. I'd recognized her from her coming in on other occasions, and although she was a little bit sketchy, I didn't have time to do more than try and keep an eye on her, and she didn't seem likely to be a problem anyway. We told her we'd be closed in a few minutes, and she made understanding noises and wandered off to shop. About a minute later, a young man, of the same race as the young lady (this is relevant), comes in. He's wearing a backpack and looks sketchy as hell. Of course he screams 'shoplifter', and I decide to hang around and watch him.
At about one minute to close, a couple of teenaged boys (about 17-18) come storming inside, shouting angrily. I barely have time to register this before one of them comes down the aisle where I'm stood watching the sketchy fellow, gets up in his face, and begins screaming at him, using incredibly racist language. (From what he was saying, the other guy allegedly stole the shouter's friend's bike, and the shouter was going to 'fuck him up' and 'beat the shit out of him'.) I'm furious. I go up to the shouter, and tell him that he's being inappropriate and needs to leave. NOW. He tries to argue with me, but I'm so angry that I just stare at him, and he leaves. I tell the other guy that I'm sorry about that, and that we don't tolerate that sort of language, but he barely seems to have registered anything that just happened.
I want to keep an eye on him, but I can still hear yelling, so I go up to the front to see at least seven big, tall, teenaged boys at our front windows, screaming, miming throat-slashing, etc. And I get even angrier, especially since they're clearly waiting to beat the crap out of this guy, who is about my size (5'2") and, though he might be a miserable little thief, doesn't deserve to be attacked by an enraged lynch mob. So I go to the door, and tell them that if there's been a theft, they need to call the police and have them deal with it. They argue with me, so I pull out my cellphone and dial the police.
The whole time, they keep shouting, about the damned bike and what they're going to do to the thief, while I get to the dispatch and explain what's happening. Then I start reciting the nearest licence plate to the dispatcher, and suddenly they all get quiet and rush to their vehicles and start leaving. The one who's licence I got stuck around, claiming 'that he's cooperating' and acting quite the self-righteous martyr, until I dismiss him and go back inside.
The young lady who had first come in is apparently actually with the young man, and she buys a few things and then, once the mob has all dispersed, goes outside with him. I see a bike lying in the middle of the parking lot, and she picks it up and they go off. According to my cashier, the mob had taken the bike (which the young man had arrived on), and slammed it down onto the pavement in the parking lot. I can only assume that this wasn't the bike that had belonged to the friend of theirs.
It was all very dramatic and we left late, and I haven't seen any of the people involved since. Good riddance.
It started when, at about 5 to close, a young lady comes in. I'd recognized her from her coming in on other occasions, and although she was a little bit sketchy, I didn't have time to do more than try and keep an eye on her, and she didn't seem likely to be a problem anyway. We told her we'd be closed in a few minutes, and she made understanding noises and wandered off to shop. About a minute later, a young man, of the same race as the young lady (this is relevant), comes in. He's wearing a backpack and looks sketchy as hell. Of course he screams 'shoplifter', and I decide to hang around and watch him.
At about one minute to close, a couple of teenaged boys (about 17-18) come storming inside, shouting angrily. I barely have time to register this before one of them comes down the aisle where I'm stood watching the sketchy fellow, gets up in his face, and begins screaming at him, using incredibly racist language. (From what he was saying, the other guy allegedly stole the shouter's friend's bike, and the shouter was going to 'fuck him up' and 'beat the shit out of him'.) I'm furious. I go up to the shouter, and tell him that he's being inappropriate and needs to leave. NOW. He tries to argue with me, but I'm so angry that I just stare at him, and he leaves. I tell the other guy that I'm sorry about that, and that we don't tolerate that sort of language, but he barely seems to have registered anything that just happened.
I want to keep an eye on him, but I can still hear yelling, so I go up to the front to see at least seven big, tall, teenaged boys at our front windows, screaming, miming throat-slashing, etc. And I get even angrier, especially since they're clearly waiting to beat the crap out of this guy, who is about my size (5'2") and, though he might be a miserable little thief, doesn't deserve to be attacked by an enraged lynch mob. So I go to the door, and tell them that if there's been a theft, they need to call the police and have them deal with it. They argue with me, so I pull out my cellphone and dial the police.
The whole time, they keep shouting, about the damned bike and what they're going to do to the thief, while I get to the dispatch and explain what's happening. Then I start reciting the nearest licence plate to the dispatcher, and suddenly they all get quiet and rush to their vehicles and start leaving. The one who's licence I got stuck around, claiming 'that he's cooperating' and acting quite the self-righteous martyr, until I dismiss him and go back inside.
The young lady who had first come in is apparently actually with the young man, and she buys a few things and then, once the mob has all dispersed, goes outside with him. I see a bike lying in the middle of the parking lot, and she picks it up and they go off. According to my cashier, the mob had taken the bike (which the young man had arrived on), and slammed it down onto the pavement in the parking lot. I can only assume that this wasn't the bike that had belonged to the friend of theirs.
It was all very dramatic and we left late, and I haven't seen any of the people involved since. Good riddance.
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