Circuit City Shopper Cuffed for Refusing to Show Receipt
If you shop with any frequency at giant chain stores such as Circuit City, Best Buy, Home Depot or even Bed, Bath & Beyond, you've probably grown accustomed to showing a security person your receipt and allowing him to inspect the contents of your bag as you leave the store.
For most of us, this inspection is routine and nothing more than a nuisance. But, have you ever stopped to wonder if this is even legal, or that this search of your bags is essentially an accusation of theft? Well, this past weekend, an Ohio man decided to refuse the search of his bag at an area Circuit City and soon found himself behind bars.
Though he tells the story in much more detail on his own blog, here's a synopsis of what happened to Michael Righi of Brooklyn, Ohio. This past Saturday afternoon, he dropped into Circuit City and bought a surge protector and a copy of Disney's 'Cars' video game for the Ninetendo Wii. When Righi was told by the door person that his bag needed to be inspected and compared to his receipt, Righi refused with a polite "No thank you" and kept walking outside, where his father was waiting behind the driver's seat of his car. The security person and manager ran out of the store and blocked the car's exit from the parking lot. When neither could tell Righi which U.S. law gave them the right to search his bag, Righi asked to be let go or he would call the police himself. They refused and Righi called the police. When the officer showed up, he inspected the bag and saw nothing had been stolen. He also asked Righi for his driver's license. Since Righi was not driving his father's car, he refused to give up his driver's license, but was happy to give his name and address at the officer's request. Not amused, the officer arrested Righi and booked him for 'Obstructing Official Business.'
From Slashdot
Related Links:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Bill Meador said 5:28PM on 9-04-2007
If there was anything amiss between the purchase and the receipt, looks like the cashier would be responsible. I could understand if they were trying to keep them honest. But I hate being treated as if I was trying to steal something, I hate thieves, but I hate being searched worse. I generally do not return to any store that does that. Retailers, That means LOST CUSTOMERS, LOST REVENUE! Think about THAT!
Reply
jason said 5:44PM on 9-04-2007
American justice at its finest......
Reply
TAZ said 6:00PM on 9-04-2007
People seem to miss the point of why stores pay for security to check bags at the door. The cost of this paid many times over by the deterent and actual apprehension of thieves. When you enter a merchants PRIVATE property, you have agreed to their security by entering. Customers are'nt bushwhacked with surprise attacks, usually there is a short line of people being checked on the way out. What would be wrong would be checking only people of certain ages, race, etc. Billions are lost to shoplifting, think of the price we all pay.
Reply
Bill Meador said 6:54PM on 9-04-2007
Re: Taz, You're thinking of money. I'm thinking of legal rights and personal freedom. When you submit to questionable authority, you are standing in line for the train to Auschwitz!
Reply
harley said 7:07PM on 9-04-2007
In Hawaii, when the buzzer at the Mililani Walmart SuperCenter went off when I walked out of the store, I just kept walking and nobody cared. The checker just shrugged. I didn't have anything I hadn't paid for, but the decoder thingie on the checkout stand that demagnatizes the items must have failed to work properly. I love Hawaii; it's so laid back.
Reply
TJ said 7:53PM on 9-04-2007
Most shoplifters are not going to go thru the checkout,then put the stolen item in the bag.If a tracking device set off an alarm at the door,I would agree the search is necessary,but not under any other circumstances.When the officer found nothing stolen,his authority to do anything,is then gone.For what reason did he need this man's identification,if there is no proof he has done anything WRONG.Seems to me the cop went a little too far and may find his ass in a wringer.
Reply
Jerry from Southern Cal said 8:03PM on 9-04-2007
Most theft that occurs at stores like Circuit City is by employees, not customers. Anyone who has ever worked in loss prevention knows that.
Good for Michael Righi of Brooklyn, OH for standing up for the rights of all of us! I'm sick and tired of this police state mentality which has gotten much worse in the last 20 years.
Young people would do well to study the political history of the US to learn how our rights are being slowly and relentlessly erroded.
Reply
CynthiaE said 8:09PM on 9-04-2007
These companys are not just checking for theft. They are checking for items that may have been missed by cashiers and for mistakes. I purchased a tv on sale at Best Buy for $400. I assumed I had the right item, and it rang up for the $400 I thought it would be. However, when showing my recipt to the gentleman at the door, he did a comparison and realized the tv I had was actually an HD that was valued twice as much. The sticker with the bar code on the box was incorrect. I wasn't aware of this, but disappointed that he had noticed this. I would have loved the HD one.
Reply
Stephen said 8:14PM on 9-04-2007
I agree with Taz. Additionally, a bag check on the way out does help keep prices down, so the store will not have to raise prices to recover losts. Personal freedom isn't being exchanged - piece of mind for a business and protection against higher prices later for the consumer is being ensured.
Reply
Joe said 9:04PM on 9-04-2007
How is it an invasion of privacy its just the store trying to make sure nothing is lost or stolen and that customers are getting what they paid for.. I work at Best Buy and we just check the high end items and clear bags coming from the wireless and digital section for anything the cashier might have missed(which does happen)or when the alarm goes off the cashier might of not de-magnetized the item correctly or someone snuck something in the bag. In one instance a customer bought a plasma tv for roughly 2500 and a new employee had pulled down the right size but wrong model of plasma worth about around 2200 if we hadnt checked the reciept he would of lost about 300.That guy made a big deal out of it regardless of what people think we do it to keep prices low in the store and anything lost comes out of the stores budget that means cutting hours for employees and less help for our customers.
Reply
brad said 10:07PM on 9-04-2007
The guy should sue for false imprisionment.
Reply
kb6kgx said 3:10AM on 6-19-2009
He certainly would have the right to sue the store for "false imprisonment", however he would not have much of case. One of the defenses that a store would use against a charge of "false imprisonment" is the "Shopkeeper's Privilege", which states:
"Shopkeepers have a privilege to reasonably detain individuals whom they reasonably believe to be in possession of shoplifted goods."
Reasonable detainment is based on reasonable belief that goods were shoplifted; person may be detained for a reasonable time (usually not more than 20 minutes or so) for the purpose of conducting a "reasonable investigation."
Efren said 10:38PM on 9-04-2007
I think its stupid. anyways the security at the door don't even check anything for acuracy its a waste of time as sometimes i stand there waiting for a check they tell you to go or just barely check.
Reply
Nina S. said 11:44PM on 9-04-2007
he wasn't cuffed for refusing to show his receipt. He was cuffed for refusing to show his ID to an officer.
Reply
not gonna check my sack said 12:36AM on 9-05-2007
I never let them check my bags either, guess what leagally they cant make u, unless there is valid justification such as survelience video or a eye witness account to show that you took something you didnt pay for.
just because the store is private property doesnt mean they can leagally invade your privacy and search your bags store bought or personal bags.
the only time i let them check my bag and reciept is when there door alarm goes off cause a dvd or cd i bought was not properly scaned to deactivate the sensor, that in my opinon is the only time they should be entitled to look through a persons bag.
they are not law enforcement they are not the sherriff dept or police.
they are minimum wage, high school kids who more than likely steal from there own store themselves.
like the other person said above, the majority of theft in retail is employee related.
you never see employees getting chased out of the store or asking to see there reciepts when they leave or get hassled when they get refunds.
but yet thats who is responsible for the majority of retail theft
by the way i have never been chased after when i leave without letting them check my bag,
Reply
Dave said 1:00AM on 9-05-2007
It reminds me of comunisium ad's when I was a child. What we have become. Are your papers in order?
Reply
kandrewtna81 said 3:56AM on 9-05-2007
I have been a loss prevention officer for almost 3 years and the store does have a right to ask to see your reciept. We do what we call receipt checks. If the person has their receipt and have the items on the receipt in their bag then we let them go. If you only knew how much product is stolen and you wonder why the prices continue to go up. You should actually be thanking those people that check your receipt because they are trying to prevent people from stealing. Why would you refuse to show it anyway if you don't have anything to hide. It's not like its going to take the people forever to look at it. I hope guy gets put in jail just for being a jackass.
Reply
kandrewtna81 said 3:56AM on 9-05-2007
Also to those who think that the security theft stickers or other ant-theft stuff is gonna go off when people try to steal think again. Most shoplifters that go into big name retailers know what they are doing. They usually take the tags or the anti-theft things off. Being in loss prevention you see all kinds of things they use. Bags with special liners. I've also seen it where a person will go up to an empty register and wave the product over the scanners to de-activate the security stickers. Now days it is stupid for you to steal because almost everywhere you shop has loss prevention. Also some states have laws where the store can actually sue you for stealing their product. I know here in MO stores can sue up to $350. I think in Texas they can fine up to $1,000. So you better think twice before stealing.
Reply
dude said 5:53AM on 9-05-2007
The kid sounds like a little prick. Wouldn't it have been easier to just show the reciept? They do that to cut their losses so you can get better prices. I'm sorry but if a cop asks to see your ID during an altercation I think that is lawful too. He was most likely checking for warrants.
Reply
Bill said 8:33AM on 9-05-2007
As a retail manager for 20 years I can tell you that our bags and coats and briefcases are searched on the way out any time we leave the premises. If it is during business hours it is a quick glance inside of the bags so as not to alert the customers. We are all trained to just open our bag and let the door person glance inside. It doesn't matter if you are a cashier or the store manager, your bags are searched. We are informed that this will happen when we are hired and sign a security waiver that we agree. As an uncle of a thief who managed to get 3 shopping carts of merchandise out of a Walmart store before they caught him at Christmas time I was amazed that the only reason he was caught was because he was sitting on a bench waiting for his girlfriend to come back from unloading the first stuff because the car was too full. So, theft comes from outside and inside and should be something the customer should help to keep at bay in order to help keep the prices down. Show your ticket and be thankful at the price you paid for the item. If you have a problem with the security measures you should not shop there. Pay a higher price at the smaller stores where they don't ususally check your bag on the way out.
Reply