Recession: Family arrested for SHOPLIFTING at SEARS

Come on guys you got the kids stealing too?

via LA Times

A Glendale family of four –including two teenage sisters — were arrested over the weekend after they attempted to steal about $550 worth of shoes and cologne from a Sears store in Burbank, police said.

Christian Gonzalez, 31, and his wife, Norma Gonzalez, 32, along with their 13- and 14-year-old daughters were arrested outside the store onMagnolia Boulevard after employees stopped them and said they were placing shoes and boxes of cologne into bags from another store, Burbank Sgt. Travis Irving said Monday.

 

Boosters Beware: State Looks to Collect DNA at Time of Arrest for Crimes as Small as Shoplifting

via Seattle Times

OLYMPIA — Suspects arrested in cases as minor as shoplifting would have to give a DNA sample before they are even charged with a crime if a controversial proposal is approved by the Legislature.

State criminal defense groups and the American Civil Liberties Union say the House bill is unconstitutional. It would mandate that police or jail staff collect DNA from all adults and juveniles arrested on suspicion of a felony or gross misdemeanor.

More than a dozen states already allow law enforcement to collect DNA from suspects before they are convicted. Three more states, including Washington, are considering such proposals this year.

“It is good technology. It solves crimes,” said Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, which has long pushed for DNA tests at the time of arrest. “We take fingerprints at the time of arrest, which in many ways is a lot more intrusive.”

Currently, police in Washington state collect DNA from people convicted of a felony and many misdemeanor sex-related crimes after they are sentenced. Police must get a search warrant or permission from the suspect to obtain DNA before a conviction.

The sample usually is taken by swabbing the inside of a person’s cheek.

A separate bill in the Senate also would allow for DNA collection before conviction — but only after formal charges are filed.

Jena 6 Youth Involved in Shooting & Boosting

via CNN

(CNN) — A teenager whose arrest in a racially charged assault case drew thousands of protesters to his rural Louisiana hometown was in a hospital Tuesday after a shooting that his lawyer said was accidental.

Mychal Bell — who also was arrested last week after allegedly stealing clothes worth $370 from a department store — was cleaning a gun when it accidentally discharged, shooting him in the shoulder, his attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, told CNN.

He had surgery Monday night in Monroe, Louisiana, and has not yet been able to talk, she said.

Monroe police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said the wound was not life-threatening.

Bell was arrested at the Pecanland Mall in Monroe on Christmas Eve and charged with shoplifting, simple battery and resisting arrest, Monroe Police Lt. Jeff Davis said Tuesday.

Shoplifting is on Rise as Economy Tanks

Um, any boosters reading this, if you got Gap Gift Cards or Saks Credit, please holla!

via NY Times

Richard R. Johnson is the first to admit it was a bad idea.

Recently laid off from a job building trailers in Elkhart, Ind., Mr. Johnson came up a dollar short at Martin’s Supermarket last month when he went to buy a $4.99 bottle of sleep medication. So, “for some stupid reason,” he tried to shoplift it and was immediately arrested.

“I was desperate, I guess,” said Mr. Johnson, 25, who said he had never been arrested before. As the economy has weakened, shoplifting has increased, and retail security experts say the problem has grown worse this holiday season. Shoplifters are taking everything from compact discs and baby formula to gift cards and designer clothing.

Police departments across the country say that shoplifting arrests are 10 percent to 20 percent higher this year than last. The problem is probably even greater than arrest records indicate since shoplifters are often banned from stores rather than arrested.

Much of the increase has come from first-time offenders like Mr. Johnson making rash decisions in a pinch, the authorities say. But the ease with which stolen goods can be sold on the Internet has meant a bigger role for organized crime rings, which also engage in receipt fraud, fake price tagging and gift card schemes, the police and security experts say.

Store Owner Puts Teen in Critical Condition with Hammer….

Source: Breibart via CBS 2 News

A Bklyn store owner is being charged with 1st. degree Felony assault for hitting a teen he suspected of stealing with a hammer. The teen now in critical condition has not yet been charged in the case.

Click here for video report…