Can Someone Be Deported For Stealing A Small $ Amount Of Merchandise?

Was leaving a Walmart super center yesterday afternoon and headed towards the exit. Heard a store worker yell “Hey! You didn’t pay for that stuff!” We turned around and it was an older man with 4 gallons of sweet tea in his basket. He had pushed his cart down past the cash registers and was walking out like he had paid for the stuff. Apparently they were watching him and stopped him. He was acting like he didn’t understand the employee but he stopped, I don’t know how many more were before that employee. He could get arrested for stealing $16 dollars worth of tea. We got the heck out of there and didn’t watch.

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4meAndyou · F

He can't even be prosecuted for stealing $16 worth. When I was a store manager, Security personnel at the Mall told me that there is a set dollar amount, and they won't call the police or try to collar anyone who steals less than that.

"States often set a specific dollar amount as a ceiling for petty larceny charges. For example, in Oklahoma, petty larceny is a theft where the value of property taken is $1,000 or less. Petty larceny is generally a misdemeanor and is punishable by fines or relatively short jail sentence (for example, less than one year).”

In Massachusetts, under $250 is considered petty theft.

Most stores don't press charges, but they ban the perp from the store for life.

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

@4meAndyou well a short jail sentence would put him in the spotlight for ICE these days wouldn’t it?