Community Chat

[gellen]

Hi Everyone - I was at a craft fair in my town this morning and saw what I thought might be a shoplifting incident.  There were police in the area so I gave them all my information and also notified the jewelry vendor.  She was going to do inventory later to determine if something had been taken.  If I was wrong and nothing ws missing are there any repurcussions for me?   I am pretty sure I saw what I saw and reported this to the police.  The potential shoplifter had left the scene in the mean time.  I hope I wasn't jumping to the wrong conclusion and that they had put something down and picked it up to retrieve it.  Would you have reacted the same way if it had been you?  I hate to think I would have jumped to this conclusion right off the bat and not given someone the benefit of the doubt; but I thought it was my duty to report it even if i wasn't 100 peercent sure.  Thanks for any input and thoughts on the subject.   Gellen

[Love my grandkids]

I agree with the way you handled it. Never confront someone in this type of situation. I loathe thievery.

[Mistic]

I think you did the right thing.  Don't confront, but report.  

[nana59]

we've been told.....see something....say something....

[phoenixbrd]

I would have let it go.  Since you have already reported, at this point the best thing to do is to reflect and know that you thought you were doing the right thing at the time...then release the incident altogether.

[Cakers3]

The vendor is going to know if she is missing anything.  I'm sure she takes an inventory.

Since the person you suspect of stealing wasn't identified, I don't see what else could be done.

You did what you thought was best but the theft will never be solved so at this point just let it go.

Why would there be any repercussions????

[KingstonsMom]

I have and will report any obvious shoplifting to the store owner, especially in these kinds of art fairs/ festivals.

These artist are regular people who have a passion for their art, and are just trying to earn a few bucks for their talent.

But even when I've seen obvious shoplifting at a dept. store, I still felt like it was my duty to report it.

It costs all of us in the long run.

[Cakers3]

I just wanted to add-

thinking that it might be a shoplifting incident is not just cause to have a person detained, either.

Seeing an actual, certifiable theft is one thing.

Thinking that it "might" be a theft is a different matter.

False accusations can hurt a person and I have a feeling where this whole story is going to end up.

[OKPrincess]

You did what you thought was right and I would have done the same thing too.

[SeaMaiden]

I would think they have  video and they will know  buy looking through the film if it was shoplifting or not.... your telling them at least allows them to view the days film footage and see if they spot what you did.