Hi All, I know this one sounds crazy!.. Just want some legal advice for a friend, let me give u the story... Friend and her son in the grocery store, shopping. her son gets a peach and starts eating it..(that was wrong)..her son is 171/2 years no excuise....But she has shopped there for years.. in her buggy at least $200.00 worth of groceries. As she was at the register. Security gard approaches and tell the son that he was stealing by eating the peach.. he weight the uneaten part of the peach..comes to about 30cents son agrees to double the price.. security guard say's no and takes him into the office.. The security Guard call the cops, the cops makes a report.. charged with theft.. Mother never signed the paper stating responsiblity.. They go to court.. it was thrown out.. Now the collection Agency is coming after the mother for $183.00.. Is this legal?... Mother asked for verif..it came back verified...by name and address.. Is there anything she can do to have this removed from her credit report?
What is the $183.00 supposedy for? Who is the CA collecting it for? I had a friend who was arrested and handcuffed for eating one yogurt covered pretzel at a store in Seattle.
$183.00 for a peach? Must have been a rotten peach. Who do they think they are palming cheap food off on the public? What on earth did they claim the $183 was for. Sure wasn't for their rotten old peach. Maybe. Verification, validation, call it what they want, she disputed it. Their answer had to be delivered within 30 days and it had to have 5 separate and distinct indices upon it's face plus the mini-miranda. And they had to be able to prove that they complied with her demand within 30 days. Build a case on them based on their failure to comply with those requirements and sit back and wait. See what happens. Keep track of the credit reports and then if they pursue the issue then turn them over to a good lawyer who will take the case on a fee contingency basis and see what that peach was worth. In the process of building a good case against them, you may be able to anger them so much that they will force the issue to court for judgment. That would make the matter much worse. A good attorney would rip them to shreds.
Hi Jeff.. & BBauer, The $183. is for damages.. ha! ha!... It was a rotten peach.. he didn't eat it all! BBauer, Thanks I will pass it along..another thing they said.. "there's a law that holds the parent responsible. "..he's almost eighteen.. But I will print your solution and give to her immedialety... What a shame!..
Well, it just so happens that they are telling her the way it is. She is responsible. But for what kinds of "damages"??? He could not possibly have damaged the peach that much because the peach was not worth that much to start off with. Also, there may be much more to this story than you know or are telling us. We would have to be sure we had the whole story before we could really assess the situation and know that what we are telling you is absolutely correct.
I do agree, she is responsible but.. there's no more to it. I seen the police report.. she went to court and it was thrown out..
If I am understanding this correctly, what the court dismissed were the criminal charges against the boy. The store is apparently claiming there were some damages / costs they are entitled to be reimbursed for. This is a separate issue from the criminal charges dealt with by the court. Obviously, the store is not charging $183.00 for the peach.
Well, I don't know about that gift part there. But I do know that if they claim she owes them money, especially that much, then she ought to make them prove why she owes the money. They already failed to validate the debt so she ought to just tell them to sue her for it. Do it or get off the pot. Force them into a judgment situation or make them get off her back. If they get off her back then they must have been wrong in the first place so sue them for bothering her so much. Sounds to me like she has a solid case against them now so if it was me, I'd go for broke and make them sue on their non existant debt and then they would have a real buzzsaw on their butts to deal with. She should get a good attorney after that and teach them a lesson they would not be so likely to forget for a while.
What kind of idiot decided to go through all that trouble over a stupid peach, anyway? Why didn't they just say, "youre going to pay for that, right?" Since the criminal charges were dropped, bill, could she sue them for False arrest/detainment?
yes I agree.. another thing the store never sent any letters stating she owed the money.. She found out about the debt when she check her credit report.. and was quite supprised... That's when she ask for vald..it came back name and address.. of course it would if you have the kids name and address.. another thing that shows up under last activity ..is "Shared, but otherwise Undesignated".... What the heck is undesignated?
You Hit the nail right on the Head.. an Idiot...He did ask to pay for it... She said that the police office called the security Guard a wanna be..
Doody I am not much familiar with criminal law at all. What you are talking about would be a matter of criminal law. Or at least I think it would. I just have to try to use some so called common sense. I suppose the reason it's called "common sense" is because everybody got at least a little, so that makes it pretty common I wrekon. Er... rekkon er RECKON er RECON.... Well shoot!, gotta be in there somewhere. (LOL) Seems to me that the cops had a valid reason to arrest and detain. Shoplifting. The fact that the complaintant decided not to complain in the end don't change the fact that he called the cops and complained to them. They had a citizen complaint before them so they had to arrest. Don't see how that makes it any kind of false arrest.
The Kid was not arrested..or detained.. he went willingly into the office.. the cop was just there because of the call, didn't know exactly what was going on... The security Guard tried to make the mother sign the papers.. in front of the cop.. the cop said that was her options.. But there were never an arrest...
Good lord. I better stop eating my box of Saltines and drinking my Snapple while going through the grocery store (I always pay for it though). What store is this that they are going after a seventeen year old kid for eating a peach? He offered to pay for it. That poor lady. $183! Was the peach dunked in gold? I would threaten to sue the collection agency. The case was thrown out in court - end of story. Dani
So the security guard stop them at the register. Humm.....technically he hasn't STOLE anything yet. Before they can make an arrest, you have to LEAVE THE STORE! Sometimes when I'm grocery shopping, I'll grab a soda and open it and drink it. But when I get to the register, I give them the bottle (weather empty or half full) to scan. I have never been stopped for shoplifting. Wow......this story is so BUNK! I wouldn't of even went in the office. I would of just paid the money for the peach (if they wouldn't take it, I would of just left it) and walked out. I would of told them that if they had a problem, that they needed to arrest and at that point, they would of had a lawsuit on their hands. You have to leave the store with OUT paying before it's considered theft! Your friend needs to just file a small claims case and get these jokers off her back! At this point, it appears as though the store is extorting money out of her by banking on the fact that she is ignorant to the laws.
I think it will be wise if you stop eating.... (smile)....... not withstanding the kid was wrong..but how can u claim charges os $183..?.. damages?..what damages? He asked to pay for it... For God sakes the amount of groceries in the cart was more than that!... and he asked to PAY!..
