TIFU by chasing a shoplifter

Submitted by staterho t3_zwc7rf in tifu

I work at a grocery store as one of the members of management. Shoplifting is a daily occurrence and most of the time I’ll just let it go and write up a report to our corporate security so they can watch the CCTV footage, send out a bulletin with suspect and vehicle description to other stores, etc. But today, I was in a pretty bad fucking mood. There were lots of sick calls and it was really busy and I was getting interrupted every 5 minutes while trying to get my work done. I noticed a man around 6ft tall looking sketchy in the liquor department. He had tattered and dirty clothes and a very strong, unpleasant smell I caught a whiff of from about 10 feet away. He kept side-eyeing me because I was watching him and he grabbed a 1.75L bottle of Tito’s and headed back in the direction of the door. I followed him as he passed all the registers and I kept repeating “sir, you need to pay for that.” He ignored me and continued walking out. I followed him outside and ran in front of him and grabbed the bottle. He pushed my neck to get me away and I lost my grip on the bottle. Then he swung the bottle at my head, striking me right above my left temple. It hurt like a bitch but that pissed me off and I felt like I had more fight in me. We have large concrete pillars on the sidewalk just outside the doors and I shoved him into one of the pillars and then grabbed his forehead and slammed his head into the pillar several times before backing away. He chucked the bottle of Tito’s into the parking lot where it shattered and yelled “THERES YOUR BOTTLE GO GET IT.” He proceeded to spit in my direction, scream at me, call me names and knocked over a trash can and signs in front of the store. Now I’ve got a big bump on my head and didn’t even get the bottle back.

TLDR: chased a shoplifter out of my store, he hit me over the head with the bottle, I slammed his head into a concrete pillar, he threw the bottle into the parking lot where it broke

Edit: for reference, I (23F) am 5’5 and 160 lbs very muscular. The guy was around 6ft, very skinny, and looked to be in his early 40s

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simonf75 t1_j1v0v0q wrote

Imagine risking your life for corporate profits, lmao, good job.

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Soflohooker t1_j1w3ktj wrote

Chances are is upper management finds out she will have a bump on her head and no job

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[deleted] t1_j1xx0fq wrote

OP is lucky they live in a country that gives more leeway for what they did

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Doe966 t1_j1twyfv wrote

In my grocery store, you would be fired, as it is against company policy to follow a shoplifter out of the store. I doubt the shoplifter will call and complain, but I wouldn’t report the injury.

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staterho OP t1_j1txjov wrote

Our policy doesn’t stop managers from stopping shoplifters so I’m okay there. If it was against policy I wouldn’t have done it. There are a couple other male managers who habitually chase down and catch shoplifters outside the store. Regardless, I won’t be reporting an injury

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GoreDeathKilll t1_j1v8ndc wrote

That’s wild to think people actually chase shoplifters. Just report it your company has insurance for this reason. They are not losing money off what’s being lifted, I promise you.

Plus you could have lost your life over a liquor bottle. Maybe you hurt him in the process as well and they be in a well enough standing to press charges as you would not be protected by your position.

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vancemark00 t1_j1wiljo wrote

"They are not losing money off what's being lifted, I promise you."

Really, you think the store is filing an insurance claim every time a $30 handle is stolen? LMAO. What do you think the average store's deductible per event is?

In reality you get the pleasure of paying for that handle by paying a little bit extra every time you shop.

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tigolex t1_j1w3j39 wrote

lmfao you think their insurance covers a stolen liquor bottle? It does not. More likely, it will come up as a shortage at physical inventory time and depending on the business, a portion of it may indirectly come out of the managers pay.

Insurance for loss due to theft isn't going to kick in until several hundred dollars minimum, likely several thousand.

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shoulda-known-better t1_j1xqnxx wrote

Babe as a fellow lady who can hold her own..... whatever your making.... it's not worth getting shot over! Glad your safe

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tangleduplife t1_j1wo3vs wrote

Except you could get charged with assault and the company sued for the guy's injuries. I have no idea if he would win and it isn't really fair, but it's still too much risk. Your well-being isn't worth trading for a bottle of booze - not even your own bottle. The cost of litigation isn't worth it to your company. Irresponsible move.

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sadgirlintheworld t1_j1wx1lw wrote

It’s gotta be against policy to slam Someone’s head into a pillar. This is sick- shoplifting is one thing- but you went for assault- this could have ended way worse. I suggest you talk to someone about your frustrations and anger at work. Even stinky homeless alcoholics (which is what I Imagined this person was) don’t deserve this kind of aggression. What the f?

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tk8398 t1_j1wz1ei wrote

Eh, I wouldn't have done it but he had the option of not hitting her in the head with the bottle too, kinda falls under fuck around and find out imo.

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staterho OP t1_j1xj4nj wrote

In what way is defending myself sick? He swung a huge bottle at my head and I’m lucky I didn’t pass out from the hit. This man was physically aggressive toward me and I fought back so he didn’t continue harming me. Obviously I recognized I fucked up by going after him, which is why I posted this under this sub!! I realize it was a mistake!! No shit!! But, under no circumstance, am I going to allow a man, or anyone for that matter, attack me without getting some kind of attack thrown back at them

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GoreDeathKilll t1_j1yux92 wrote

But you attacked them at that point by being a vigilante. You were not attacked.

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Yabezdelnik t1_j1xo8zg wrote

Low quality bait but you did give me a laugh 👍

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tittychittybangbang t1_j1tveiq wrote

Well that was the dumbest thing you could ever have done, a true fuck up. Did you think you were WW or something? You went looking for trouble and you found it, I truly hope you’ve learned your lesson

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staterho OP t1_j1tvlma wrote

I could not even tell you what I was thinking. Without fail, I ALWAYS let shoplifting go and leave the rest to security. This was so out of character and just reinforced my belief that letting it go is the best option

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decolored t1_j1w8ifb wrote

You got sick of being taken advantage of

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tittychittybangbang t1_j1tvrsm wrote

Of course it is! You must have had a momentary lapse in judgement from your bad mood or something. I am so glad you’re safe and there were no serious injuries, I have my mothers voice in my head from when I got alcohol poisoning going “you STUPID STUPID Girl!” Now you are the stupid stupid girl!

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OkVolume1 t1_j1txamh wrote

True story when I worked at a grocery store in my teens we have an overly intense assistant manager, who lived for the store. Think Dwight from the office. A guy shoplifts one day and come bursting out the front door. I'm outside on carryout duty. Next thing I see is said assistant manager flying out the door behind him. He proceeds to jump in his car and give chase to the shoplifters vehicle. I never asked if he caught him. It was just the darndest thing I'd seen.

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hsiale t1_j1u63dq wrote

> We have large concrete pillars on the sidewalk just outside the doors and I shoved him into one of the pillars and then grabbed his forehead and slammed his head into the pillar several times

Is the law where you live ok with killing someone caught shoplifting? This sounds like you could have gotten yourself into trouble much bigger than a bottle of liquor is worth.

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staterho OP t1_j1u6htn wrote

Did you miss the part where I said he first hit me across the head with a 1.75L glass bottle? After that, it was not, in any way, about the shoplifting. He attacked me and my instincts told me to fight back.

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tigolex t1_j1w3wgr wrote

Thank you for your service. If more people who were blatantly shoplifting got the shit beat out of them, there would be less shoplifting.

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JejuneEsculenta t1_j1uk02e wrote

Dude committed battery and OP defended herself.

Good on 'er!

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AjahnAnarchy t1_j1v371b wrote

OP technically commits assault chasing the suspect. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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JejuneEsculenta t1_j1v3vhm wrote

Chasing a criminal is not assault. Threatening them with injury may be.

'Course, that all depends on the locality. Assault and battery laws vary a little.

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galahad423 t1_j1vp89k wrote

Shopkeeper’s privilege allows detention in or near the store using a reasonable degree of force in a reasonable manner/for a reasonable period of time with a reasonable and sincere suspicion someone has stolen or is attempting to steal

Chasing them out of the store and grabbing them is almost certainly unprotected conduct in this instance.

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Termsandconditionsch t1_j1yu3c0 wrote

Not if he hits her with the bottle first it isn’t.

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galahad423 t1_j1zl92j wrote

Then you could potentially argue it was self defense (but only if she wasn’t the escalator and didn’t provoke it, which is murky here since based on the facts she approached him and tried to grab the bottle), but IF she went out and chased him, there are some courts who will find HE was using his right of self defense when she approached him with the intent to put her hands on him or grab the bottle, both of which could be considered an initial assault which he was defending himself against

You generally can’t use self-defense as a defense when you’re the one instigating the fight

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Termsandconditionsch t1_j22ilwv wrote

Depends on jurisdiction. Hitting someone who’s unarmed with a deadly weapon (which a 1.5l glass bottle definitely can be) will void any self defence argument in a lot of places.

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galahad423 t1_j22j851 wrote

Sure, my point was that it’s unlikely the cashier would be unable to successfully claim self-defense here either, since they both pursued the potential thief and made physical contact first based on the doctrine of extended personhood (when she grabbed the bottle), AND the thief could potentially turn the defense around on them and claim self-defense themselves

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427CAV t1_j1ukw97 wrote

can we get the security footage uploaded??

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decolored t1_j1w8mp9 wrote

At least he’ll be wary to steal, now that he knows women will even try and fuck him up too lmao

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CinderCats t1_j1tvsoo wrote

He won't be back in a hurry.

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annoyedatwork t1_j1w6ks7 wrote

Next time he’ll have a weapon.

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CinderCats t1_j1w8o5i wrote

Opportunists prefer to avoid confrontation. They don't tend to go armed.

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Maya_Rose221 t1_j1xb251 wrote

Thank god I live in Australia 😂

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Ixneigh t1_j1x0vad wrote

Paint spray these guys. Nontoxic latex paint, hard to get off, it will eventually peel off skin on its own, hair not so much.

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thefuzzyone85 t1_j1x8jn4 wrote

Had a manager years ago at the store I worked at almost lose their leg. They got scratched by a shoplifter and ended up with some kind flesh eating bacteria infection. It's really not worth it chasing those dudes

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SolidFoxguy t1_j24fv3a wrote

If anyone did that at Walmart they would be fired. You still employed, OP?

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staterho OP t1_j2d7kfo wrote

Indeed I am. And will be for the foreseeable future. I even went as far as sending in the incident to corporate security so other stores in our area could keep an eye out for the guy. Like I said, members of management in my company are allowed to pursue shoplifters as long as we remain on the property and don’t use unreasonable force to detain a shoplifter.

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Elder_Tig t1_j1y9z4f wrote

I don't believe this for a second.. Sorry

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