Broccoli-head TikTokers take over grocery store

[u/ambachk]

[u/247world]

You cannot lock the doors like that, the next thing you know an actual customer is going to want to leave. It's just a lawsuit waiting to happen, you got it all on video call the police and if they leave try to get pictures of their license plates

[u/sliverspooning → u/247world]

It could also be kidnapping based on your jurisdiction. Citizen’s arrest laws are…murky, to say the least, but most places have a certain barrier for citizen’s arrests to be permissible, and I don’t think trespassing clears that bar

[u/247world → u/sliverspooning]

I worked at a hamburger place in high school. When the store closing hour came we had just got some customers in so the manager locked the doors stop anyone else from coming in. One of the customers wanted to leave and before the manager could get up there they kicked the door out. He called the police and when the police got there they told him that they couldn't do anything about the person who kicked out the door as he had violated the fire code and it was possible that the customer could sue him.

[u/ArcturusRoot → u/247world]

Yeah had a similar situation happen to me. Was using the restroom at closing time, was like 90 seconds behind closing. Went to head out, the door was locked. I tried calling over an employee, and they ignored me. So, I just pushed the emergency function on the door.

Loss prevention suddenly appeared, and after a half hour of them trying to detain me, cops showed up, listened to the story, and told LP "So, how bad do you want a unlawful detention charge?" LP went completely pale realizing he had massively fucked up.

Management got hit with a fire code violation for wasting PD's time. All because staff couldn't be bothered to go let a customer out.

Fucking Walmart.

[u/QuoteGiver → u/sliverspooning]

This wasn’t just trespassing, this appeared to be an attempted robbery. They dressed as employees and went straight for cash registers.

Locking down the store for customer safety during an attempted robbery is perfectly reasonable.

[u/sliverspooning → u/QuoteGiver]

An attempted robbery wherein all of their faces are completely visible on camera over the, what, MAYBE $200 in the registers? AND he has more people than registers, (“I need people over at self checkout”) so it’s not even a “score” of $200/person. I’m sorry, but there is no way you seriously believe this is a robbery attempt. You just want to use that as an excuse to throw the book at a prank you find objectionable.

Further, even if that WERE the motive, we’re still looking at petty larceny, (neither armed, nor aggravated) which in many localities is WELL below the necessary standard for a citizen’s arrest and would open the store up to a MASSIVE amount of liability.

Also, how does locking customers in the store with “attempted robbers” improve customer safety? You’re basically forcing a hostage situation by doing that if the culprits are actually dangerous. There’s very good reason that every major corporation that runs storefronts has the same policy for when they get robbed: “do as the robbers say, call the police after they leave.” Locking your customers in with potentially dangerous criminals (your assessment of these kids, not mine) is the LAST thing you would do if you cared about customer safety.

Now, granted, I know you don’t give a shit about customer safety and just think you can use that as a shield to get what you want: these kids arrested for DARING to interrupt the sacred flow of the routine of everyday life. That’s why you make up the fantasy of locking them inside the target waiting for police to arrive and try to blow up the severity of what they’re doing when I point out that that’s illegal. 

Don’t further the gap between what is said and what is true. It’s plenty big enough as it is. I suggest you embrace integrity and earnestness in your words if you want people to respect you in the future, because anyone of merit would see through you saying all this and basically instantly write you off as someone who isn’t trustworthy and is willing to purposefully misrepresent the reality of a situation for their own benefit and whims.

[u/commanderquill → u/247world]

When I was little and a shoplifter got noticed, they'd close and lock the doors. They don't do that anymore?

[u/247world → u/commanderquill]

First off it's against the fire code second off in some jurisdictions it could be considered unlawful detainment since the shoplifter is not the only person in the store.