Last night around 3, 3:15 am I was outside sweeping the parking lot. (This is my favorite time, I get to be outside and there are very few customers.) A car pulls in and parks by the door so I head back inside. As I pass the car the passenger was putting on a toboggan. I had a strong impression that it was his intention to rob the store so I snuck a peak as I walked by to see if it was the kind of ski mask with eye holes. It wasn't. I entered the store, followed very shortly after by a police officer and then the man.
The man went to the cooler and opened the beer door while the officer and I talked. We watched the fellow because he was acting weird. As we watched, he stepped away from the cooler and stood behind the end of an aisle. He stayed there, making small, odd movements, all the while watching us as we watched him. This went on for a few minutes. Then he walked over to the candy aisle and then into the rest room. The officer and I both commented on this strange behavior. After a few more minutes he walked out and headed out the store. As he headed out I asked if he needed help finding anything and he said no. As soon as he walked out the door the officer went out after him.
After a few minutes I looked up and it looks like the officer is writing a ticket. Shortly after that they both come back into the store with two cans of beer (Bud Ice). The officer puts them on the counter and says, "These are yours. He took them from the cooler and I found them in his pants. Do you want to press charges or let him pay for them?" All the while the man is pleading with us to let him pay for them, that he has enough money to do this etc.
So I said, "Alright, you can pay for it."
He responds, "Can I go out to the car? The girl in the car has money. I don't have any money on me."
Since there was an officer standing there and since it is a costly offense for me to sell alcohol to underage people, I told him I would need to see some ID.
He said, "I don't have any ID." So I told the officer it was out of my hands. He made a call, charged the guy with shoplifting, cuffed him at the counter and tooks him out to the cruiser.
Even though I want to, I don't stand there and watch. But I realized this was taking a while and I looked out the window and the guy is refusing to be placed in the car! The officer is wrestling with him while his friend is standing nearby, arguing with the officer. So figure I better call 911 and get him some help but just then another police car pulls up, so I tell 911 that help has arrived.
Then his friend comes in to talk to me about all this. I tell her what happened - several times, that I tried to let him buy the beer but he had no money and no ID and therefore there was nothing I could do. She tells me she knoww I wouldn't sell beer with no ID (because she had already tried a while back) but that his ID was recently taken away etc. Then she says, "Now don't tell the police, but I don't have my ID either. I can drive, I just don't have it." I told her she better quit arguing with them because they might ask for it! But she kept on anyway, complaining about how much this was gonna cost to get him out etc. The recently arrived officer patiently explained who she could go to to complain (she was complaining that the arresting officer was being a ***** [not nice about this] ), and I told her he was, but to no avail.
I gave the officer my name and store phone number and a receipt for the shoplifted items. $3.19 worth of beer lifted with a police officer watching. That's just dumb!
Two hours later I realized, If this goes to court, I will have to go as a witness!!
You never know what's gonna happen in the middle of the night at Kangaroo Express!
The man went to the cooler and opened the beer door while the officer and I talked. We watched the fellow because he was acting weird. As we watched, he stepped away from the cooler and stood behind the end of an aisle. He stayed there, making small, odd movements, all the while watching us as we watched him. This went on for a few minutes. Then he walked over to the candy aisle and then into the rest room. The officer and I both commented on this strange behavior. After a few more minutes he walked out and headed out the store. As he headed out I asked if he needed help finding anything and he said no. As soon as he walked out the door the officer went out after him.
After a few minutes I looked up and it looks like the officer is writing a ticket. Shortly after that they both come back into the store with two cans of beer (Bud Ice). The officer puts them on the counter and says, "These are yours. He took them from the cooler and I found them in his pants. Do you want to press charges or let him pay for them?" All the while the man is pleading with us to let him pay for them, that he has enough money to do this etc.
So I said, "Alright, you can pay for it."
He responds, "Can I go out to the car? The girl in the car has money. I don't have any money on me."
Since there was an officer standing there and since it is a costly offense for me to sell alcohol to underage people, I told him I would need to see some ID.
He said, "I don't have any ID." So I told the officer it was out of my hands. He made a call, charged the guy with shoplifting, cuffed him at the counter and tooks him out to the cruiser.
Even though I want to, I don't stand there and watch. But I realized this was taking a while and I looked out the window and the guy is refusing to be placed in the car! The officer is wrestling with him while his friend is standing nearby, arguing with the officer. So figure I better call 911 and get him some help but just then another police car pulls up, so I tell 911 that help has arrived.
Then his friend comes in to talk to me about all this. I tell her what happened - several times, that I tried to let him buy the beer but he had no money and no ID and therefore there was nothing I could do. She tells me she knoww I wouldn't sell beer with no ID (because she had already tried a while back) but that his ID was recently taken away etc. Then she says, "Now don't tell the police, but I don't have my ID either. I can drive, I just don't have it." I told her she better quit arguing with them because they might ask for it! But she kept on anyway, complaining about how much this was gonna cost to get him out etc. The recently arrived officer patiently explained who she could go to to complain (she was complaining that the arresting officer was being a ***** [not nice about this] ), and I told her he was, but to no avail.
I gave the officer my name and store phone number and a receipt for the shoplifted items. $3.19 worth of beer lifted with a police officer watching. That's just dumb!
Two hours later I realized, If this goes to court, I will have to go as a witness!!
You never know what's gonna happen in the middle of the night at Kangaroo Express!
Jeff...I love your stories.
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