sweet justice

[BlaqueKatt]

Sweet Justice

A man was charged with petty theft after being caught on a surveillance camera taking jelly beans out of a bin and eating them before he got to the cash register.


YAAAAAAy!!! go store manager!!!

[DesignFox]

That's hilarious.

Good for that store manager!

[Rine]

Hm, this story has become one of debate here where I live (Fort Walton Beach is in the neighboring county.)

Is arresting someone for eating a couple of jellybeans worth losing him as a customer for life?

I think arresting maybe is too much. Perhaps the man did not know? Many of the groceries in this area let you "taste" before you buy.

So, I'm torn on this one. There are bigger criminals to go after. Five or six jellybeans shouldn't equal an arrest record.

[Rapscallion]

Ten beans cost about $2? Just how big are those beans?

Rapscallion

[kibbles]

So, I'm torn on this one. There are bigger criminals to go after. Five or six jellybeans shouldn't equal an arrest record.

I agree. He shouldn't get away with it, but there is a thing about the punishment fitting the crime as well.

[blas]

Maybe just forcing the guy to pay the $2?

But then again, at the same time, how many people graze on "samples" (the quote marks represent items that are not free samples, just customers feeling it's their personal right to sample anything and everything) at stores everyday? Two dollars per person per day could easily be hundreds of dollars a day in losses. Not only that, but people let their kids do it as well.

[powerboy]

That manager should not of had him arrested. It was only 6 beans. It is not like he pulled a gun on the whole store.

[Jaden]

The way I see it is, if we let someone go because it's "just 6 beans", then we have no right to stop anybody from grazing. If every customer stole 6 jelly beans from the jar, it'd be out before very long. It's still stealing, no matter how large or little the amount, and stealing needs to be punished; stealing less doesn't make it ok, and if we just let the guy go, then anybody will think they can do it. It adds up over time, after all.

[ditchdj]

I see he wants the charges dropped. Why is he and his family blaming the deputy??? They should be pleaing with the DA since he was pretty much caught red-handed, making this a slam-dunk case. Kinda silly to blame the deputy when all he was doing was enforcing the law, which is exactly what his job description is. It may have been two jellybeans, but the law is the law.

[Boozy]

Maybe just forcing the guy to pay the $2?

I agree. That's the way to go in cases like this, I think.

Making would-be thieves pay for what they eat combined with the embarrassment caused by calling them out in public is likely enough of a deterrent to prevent future theft.

The legal system is overburdened and expensive. I don't think I'd like to see cops and courts in my city dealing with stuff like that when there are likely better things they could be doing with their time.

[crazylegs]

Lets bounce this back, say someone you invited in walked into your house and stole a couple of oddities, nothing of any financial significance, but the important thing is it is not theirs to take, the intention is to permenantly deprive the other party of it, which is quite simply theft, it doesn't matter if its six jelly beans or six hundred, an offence has been commited.

(This is an extreme example and in the UK would have been dealt with by the means of an on the spot £80 Penalty Notice, saves a lot of time and effort and no permenant criminal record, might be the way to go)