Shoplifter sobs to owner over the phone.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

We had this guy who came into our hobbyshop almost every day. He would reveal to us his past about being an addict, of what I don't know, and that he lived in a halfway house.

We started noticing stuff missing from the RC section that corresponded with his RC cars. He even brought back an item to return which he didn't have a reciept for. So, swordsman422 pulled up the item's history on the computer. Turns out we hadn't sold the item since 2004 and there was SUPPOSED to be one in stock...it wasn't. The owner took it back from him and said if he could produce a reciept for it, he would let him have it back. That was when we started suspecting him. We should have earlier, he was always bringing things back, like wrenches, that he had "accidently" left the store with.

Anyway, we started thouroughly investigating after 8 packages of glo plugs(need them to run a nitro rc) went missing. He was mad because his burned out before he got to run his car and we wouldn't replace it for him. It's not our fault. We looked on the camera, but the resolution wasn't great enough to accuse him of anything, but we knew it was him.

He proved it when he called up last Sunday, must have just gotten out of church, and confessed what he had stolen to the owner. He cried. He sobbed. He bawled. The owner was a little freaked out, but said that he had to pay back everything he stole before he could buy anything else.

Seriously, he cried. He is an adult. A full grown man with a wife and child. I don't know if he will pay us back or not, but we have all of his contact info in our system.

[cinema guy]

Maybe he is in a twelve-step program and has to make amends for everything he has done wrong in the past.

[uknz76]

I had a shoplifter phone me a few weeks ago telling me he nicked a magazine and was really sorry. I thought it was a prank call until he turned up instore and demanded that I let him pay for it. We had no idea it had been taken but I let him pay, I couldn't be bothered going to the police as it was only $8, and he had paid (admitadly a little late).

I guess some people do have a conscience.

Lucky I don't.

[Shyla]

I guess some people do have a conscience.

I don't think that's much of a conscience. My conscience actually keeps me from stealing in the first place. Much easier on the guilt that way.

[zzapp the witch]

cinema guy almost said it for me, when I was reading your story I was thinking to myself, "Isn't that the ninth step?"

(I really don't know if that's the ninth step or not, I'm still in denial. )

[Kogarashi]

Why do I get the impression that his "addiction" was kleptomania?

[Polenicus]

cinema guy almost said it for me, when I was reading your story I was thinking to myself, "Isn't that the ninth step?"

(I really don't know if that's the ninth step or not, I'm still in denial. )

Not really. The Ninth step is: 'To make amends wherever possible, except when to do so would bring harm to others'. (The qualifier is meant to mean 'If you had an affair with someone, and their spouse doesn't know, and still doesn't, don't go to the spouse and confess everything, it's not your place to torpedo the relationship')

For this to be a proper 9th step, he would have had to A) Come in person if at all possible (Meaning, unless he's in another country or currently in jail, he walks his butt over there) and B) MAKES FULL RESTITUTION.

In other words, he stole the stuff, he needs to make arrangements to pay it back. Even if he can only manage small payments, that's something he needs to do up front. The dramatics were unnecessary, and basically self-serving (He's trying to get pity). So if it was a 9th, he didn't do it very well.

[protege]

Why do I get the impression that his "addiction" was kleptomania?

I don't think it was that...but that he was too cheap to buy his supplies like the rest of us. Either that, or the amounts of what he had taken was nearing the "steal above this amount and land in jail" line, and he was trying to save his ass.

[TruthHurts]

Does anyone else feel really sorry for the wife and kid. That guy sounds like a grade A moron.

[Rolling Star]

Does he think you're a therapist or something? What a weirdo...>_>

[Becks]

Does anyone else feel really sorry for the wife and kid. That guy sounds like a grade A moron.

I feel sorry for the kid, yes. I'll feel sorry for the woman only if she didn't know about this before she married him.

[Andara Bledin]

Even if she didn't before, she should by now.

^-.-^

[blas]

Geez you guys are sure bringing up the grocery store memories now!

One day when I was just a mere bagger, I was going on my break. I had noticed that the supervisors and managers had been acting funny for about a half hour or so. I saw a cop pull into the fire lane when I was outside smoking on my lunch break.

I walked inside to eat some lunch in the breakroom. I sat down at the table with some coworkers. The cop came upstairs and went into the conference room.

I asked one of my coworkers what happened.

Some woman had switched price tags on meat (don't ask how, they are sticky tags!). She switched the tag of ground chuck with the tag of steak. And she got caught by the meat department manager.

We all walked by the conference room quick and heard her sobbing her eyes out to the cop about being "soo poor" and "just wanting steak like everyone else!" and she was "SOOOO SORRY! SOOO SOOO SORRY!"

The chick was wearing bright pink leggings and a Tweety bird shirt. We all got a good laugh at her expense.

Being poor is not an excuse for stealing and switching price tags. Especially when you're right in the direct view of the meat department manager!

[Gabrielle Proctor]

The shoplifter is now paying back is $500 debt in $5 incriments. He even showed up with a $20 payment in check form in someone else's name. It had their DL # on it, so we didn't ask questions.

[blas]

Wow that'll take a while to pay back