So I haven't posted anything on here for a while. I don't have much to say besides a couple of work stories from this week, so continue reading if you feel like it.

The first one happened earlier this week. There was a guy who we saw pick up a couple of DVD's and then take them down an aisle that hard to see a lot of it with our cameras. However, we saw enough to know that he put the DVD's in his pocket. He was with his girlfriend. Anyway, I'll spare you the details and get to the good stuff. Yada yada yada, then we went outside to stop him as he walked outside. One of our guys stepped in front of him and did the usual line as me and another guy step in. We inform him that we need to have him come back in the store with us, and so he reaches in his pocket and pulls out his keys and hands them to his girlfriend. He pulls out something else from his pocket and hands them to his girlfriend. Then he tried to make it look like he was going to give his girlfriend a hug, when he took off running in the parking lot. We rarely have three people working at a time, but it so happens that we did that night. He chose the wrong night. Long story short, we had a little scene chasing him into the parking lot where he hit a car trying to dodge into the cars to lose us. There was a person in the car. I'm sure it got her attention. We finally grabbed the guy right in front of the parked cars and brought him to the ground. He fought us, but we were yelling at him to get on the ground. One of us grabbed one arm and I grabbed the other arm and essentially pinned him to the ground while the third guy called 911. 2 of the parked cars facing us had people inside of them, and they got a good show. We had a good little audience on both sides of us too watching from the aisles in the parking lot. We brought him inside and had him empty his pockets. He took 8 things. My favorite part was when he took out two avocados from his pocket that he stole. It resembled guacamole more than avocados. Because it was a 911 call, the officer showed up within minutes, and he got a pretty good laugh at the situation too.

The other story happened last night. It's not really a comedy story as much as it is an abnormal story, which is why I'm telling it. It was the same basic grocery thief gig, with 2 kids stealing a more-expensive-than-average drink. They drank it in the store and threw the bottle away. We stopped them outside as normal and brought them back up to our office. They were juveniles, so we had to contact the parents and have them come pick them up. This is where it gets abnormal. Normally, the parents come, and they're upset. The difference with last night was the fact that the mother of one of them wasn't upset with her kid as much as she was upset with us. Aparently she works in some branch of Law Enforcement, and she demanded to see the surveillance tape. We refused. We told her that we would could and would show the Police Officer if he wanted to, but that we didn't have to show her the tape. She started to threaten to get it subpoenaed in a court, and we told her that was fine. As the guy I was working with was showing the Officer, she tried to peek into the office and peek around the Officer to see the tape. We told her to get out of the office and shut the door. I stayed outside. While they were reviewing the tape, she was just talking about how they're going to get out of this and asking her son questions about it to find out how to get out of it. She told me that she's taking this to court. Frankly, it'd be fun if she did. I'd have no problem going to court on this one. We've got a great tape of the whole thing from start to finish, and there's no way they're getting out of it unless there's some sort of "under-the-table" negotiations that happen where she works. It was just an interesting situation because usually the parent is mad at the child, not trying to support him in being a thief.

Comments

Gramps said…
So I thought you couldn't use force to stop someone? Didn't you tell me that once? Apparently I was mistaken. It's a sad world when the parent throws their support behind the kid in trouble instead of using it to teach the kid a lesson. My guess is that kid will be a thief all his life since it's obvious his mother doesn't care. If that was my kid I'd want the store to prosecute fully. Make it REAL painful for the kid.
Unknown said…
Yep. We can use force to stop people, and we need to every now and then. That's the fun part about my job.
Marilyn said…
Geez Brett, I am sorry! I am afraid I have FAILED you as a mother! Had I only KNOWN that you would need tackling skills, I would have had you go out for football! But you must have gotten enough practice on your siblings when I wasn't around (and thinking that my children were just little saints) that you can fend for yourself! I just have one question...what if the guy would have pulled out a knife or a gun on you?
Unknown said…
Mom, don't worry about the knife or gun thing. I'm not about to let myself get stabbed or shot over anything someone could steal from a grocery store. The company has a policy that is pretty clear; nothing in the stores is worth anyone getting hurt over. If I think that there's a chance that I can't get a knife away from someone without getting cut, we're instructed to just let them go and do whatever we can to make sure that everyone (witnesses, LP guys, customers, etc.) is safe. Last week, the other LP guy who helped me pin him thought he was going for a weapon, and he told me later that he was ready to just kick him in the head to stun him for a second while we took off running and called the Police. And if we're chasing someone and they pull a gun on us, we're told to just immediately stop chasing, lay flat on the ground, and let them run away. Not that that sort of thing happens on a daily basis, but now you know...
Gramps said…
You posted that at 2:15 AM?!?!?!?! Are you really a vampire like Breanna? Geez Brett. Get a life! (Or get some sleep!)
Unknown said…
...I had actually just rolled into my apartment because I do have a life...

:)

It was a very late night run that I got back from with a friend.
Christa said…
Brett-- You're a runner? Or is that a code word for doughnut run?
Unknown said…
Yeah, I go running every now and then. Nothing serious. Just 3-4+ miles or so a couple of times per week.

If we're including runs to the store or good places to get good stuff, we could add a few onto those numbers.

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