Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Jamie Spencer Law Firm : DWI, DUI, Drug Possession : Serving Georgetown, Round Rock, San Marcos, Travis, Williamson, and Hays County, Texas

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So the day I post my own story about Absentmindedness vs. Shoplifting, Bad Court Thingy alerts me in the comments section to the story of a man who paid for $150+ worth of groceries, forgot the $4 worth of soda under the cart, and was of course arrested:

Have you ever accidentally forgot to pay for some heavy item that you stowed under you shopping cart? We have, too! Unlike one Cleveland man, however, we did not go to jail for it.

[Name Removed] has a long receipt showing the $157.20 worth of two grocery carts full of groceries that he bought at a Brooklyn supermarket Saturday night. After going through the self checkout, the man said he forgot a $4 case of pop under the cart.

A police officer working security at the store asked to see his receipt.

"I went looking for the receipt, the pop wasn't on it and they decided to have me arrested," he said.

[Name Removed] was arrested on a petty theft charge.

As usual, where commenting is allowed, morons prove they have access to the internet as well as the rest of us. (Or are ‘we’ in the minority?) A sampling:

Well, the article makes it seem as though he intended to pay. We're not getting both sides of the story, really.

Let’s see, the rest of the story – since we must always be fair and balanced – is what? “I’m the rent a cop and I can read his mind. I know this was not mistake?” another comment:

Actually that is one of the best ways to shoplift because most people don't suspect it and if caught give you the benefit of the doubt. Trust me I've seen it numerous times working retail.

I think we can file that under mind reading again. You’ve “seen it work”? Meaning no one has ever forgotten an item and walked past the door?

In Texas – or at least in Austin - most of the time when shoplifting under $50 is suspected, the person will be issued a citation. But not here. This lead to an arrest. Here’s a letter written by his wife about the aftermath of the arrest:

We are both shamed and embarrassed at what happened but it is a mistake made by a lot of us every day…after all, we are only human and our lives are busy ones because we have 3 kids, 2 of whom are disabled.

My daughter has Down Syndrome and my youngest son has mental issues. I am disabled myself…so my husband has a lot of daily responsibilities that most men would run from…but he loves me enough to stay and take care of all of us plus work as a home health care aid.

My husband is currently out on bond to the tune of $150.00…none of that will we see back. We lost groceries because they sat in the car for several hours while he was shackled to a bench at Brooklyn jail.

You see, I am disabled and do not drive so I had no way to get my groceries home. If he loses his job, we don’t know what we will do…see even if he is found innocent…the original charge will still remain on his record. So who wants a guy with a petty theft charge for a home health care aid?

Sounds like a worthy pro bono cause for some New York defense lawyer out there…