WinCo stores: Shoplift at your own risk.
Posted by breadwinner on March 4th, 2009
24-hour red flag, if you ask me
While I’ve personally never heard of or been to a WinCo, I found today’s story about a woman who shoplifted there for twelve hours more than a little strange. Most likely another victim of the half-dead economy, it seems 57-year-old Janet Lee Welch took her sweet time in shoplifting at a WinCo Grocery store in Washington. I’d like to imagine this all happened in slow motion. And in fact, it might very well have felt that way to the store employees who watched Welch go on a twelve-hour shoplifting expedition. She spent twellllve lonnnnng hours carefully hiding small items on her person and inside the other items she intended to buy, using a pair of scissors she also stole from the store. The sad part of the whole ordeal is that it seems the 100 stolen items (totaling around $300) were small, everyday things the shoplifter claims to have needed. It almost makes you want to feel bad for her. And here’s my favorite quote: “Employees said they were suspicious because she entered the store before 5 a.m. and stayed until 5 p.m.” Suspicious? No shit. Perhaps the only way she could have been more suspicious would be if she were wearing a trench coat and a stocking over her head.
This is not an actual shoplifter.
This isn’t nearly the first brush with bizarre crime and shoplifting scandal the food chain has faced. In this story, reported in September of ’08, a man suspected of shoplifting died after being handcuffed and sat on by three WinCo employees at a store in Oregon. They sat on him. Wow.
Back in July of ‘07, shoplifters used a knife and several stolen bottles of liquor to threaten the store’s loss prevention team members once they were discovered stuffing the bottles in their clothing. Then in August of ’07, a WinCo store in Boise had to be shut down after a shoplifter was shot and killed by area police. The details on that are sketchy at best, since the man seemed to be already detained by store security when he was shot. Followup research found that the shoplifter had pulled a gun on police provoking them to shoot him first.
This is also not an actual shoplifter. I think...
An unconfirmed (read: found in a chatroom) report says that back in December 2008 and back once again in Washington, a girl named Katie attempted to steal about $70 worth of merchandise from a WinCo store when she was caught and detained. The store proceeded to fine her $270 ($200 plus the stolen items’ value) and release her. But the problem there is that the store — or any accuser of shoplifting for that matter — can’t fine people in the U.S. Only courts can fine people. So there’s yet another reason not to try and shoplift, at least definitely not at a WinCo store. You might end up dead, injured or at the very least grossly mistreated. Personally, I’m weary of all places open 24-hours (with a few exceptions), but that’s just me.
Tags: food, shoplift, twelve hour, washington, winco
Do not fuck with WinCo.
[...] last August, a woman was overheard using the “F-word” in a Walmart. Good thing it wasn’t a WinCo. Then, a man from Queens received a ticket for cursing up a shitstorm in a diner in [...]
Stores do have a right to impose a fine under the “Civil Anti-Shoplifting Act” as a matter of fact. It makes it faster for the court to assess Restitution payment. Do some research on retail theft and shrinkage before you run your mouth.
“Do some research on retail theft and shrinkage before you run your mouth.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What a ridiculous sentence!
this just happened to my sis bf. except they said he an the others that didnt shoplift were accomplices an they each had to pay i think $150 on top of the shoplifters 350 or something. they dont even care that they didnt kno abou the two little snickers bars.
[...] was coming in and out of the store with bags of stolen goods and no one noticed this? Were there no ex-Winco employees on staff that [...]
ITS CALLED CIVIL DEMMAND, ANY COMPANY THAT NAILS SOMEONE FOR SHOPLIFTING CAN AND WILL ORDER RESTITUTION, IM AN L.P. MYSELF WE DO IT EVERYDAY
In order to charge someone as an accomplice they must have been there for all 5 elements of proof. Under state law, even if someone selected an item, handed it to the friend, and the friend concealed the item without the other persons knowledge, then they are both good to take at the door. But when the real time does come, we should all think about if that person is really guilty instead of just wanting another stat on the board. And as for the Civil Demand, it is legit. In the state of washington every company has the right to charge civil damages upon shoplift to pay for the LP team fees and time in watching that individual. But the amount varies from company to company. We have a civil demand vendor that takes care of that part all outside of our company and the only one I heard back from was an 18 year old that took a 35 dollar bottle of cologne and his civil demand bill was around 600 dollars. Don’t get caught shoplifting anywhere. There’s always someone getting paid to watch you, and those little black balls in the cealing are always moving. Believe me