Greenpoint, NY – Rite Aid Sued by Woman over False Shoplifting Arrest

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    Greenpoint, NY – A woman is suing Rite Aid and the city for branding her a shoplifter when a previously purchased item inexplicably activated the pharmacy’s exit gate alarm.

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    Leah Fishman, 30, said that all her pleas — that store staff or detectives review security cameras, look up payment records or allow her to fetch the old receipt — fell on deaf ears.

    “It was awful,” she said of the humiliating arrest one year ago. “It was really, really public and it lasted for hours.”

    Fishman, a gilder and painter, recalled making a quick trip to the neighborhood pharmacy a few blocks from her Greenpoint home. She bought some medicine and tried to leave.

    But the exit gate beeped and security found in her bag a container of dietary supplements she had purchased a few weeks earlier for about $20, said her lawyer, Jeffrey Rothman.

    “When the police came, I was relieved,” Fishman said — but that feeling quickly changed.

    “They didn’t listen to a thing she said,” Rothman said of the two officers and two detectives who responded. “It’s though they were a private company working for Rite Aid.”

    “Oh look, she has tears. It won’t help you; you’re still going to jail,” court papers quote a detective as saying.

    The put-downs and mocking continued after she was handcuffed and taken to the precinct stationhouse, where she could hear other officers calling her a thief, Fishman said.

    “Police behavior was not only irresponsible, it was downright cruel,” said Rothman, who argued that cops should have engaged in “some minimal investigatory activity.”

    The ordeal ended when Fishman’s roommate came to the stationhouse with the receipt for the allegedly stolen item. Fishman was let go without charges some three hours after the arrest.


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    21 Comments
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    DemsBeBabies
    DemsBeBabies
    12 years ago

    her first mistake was going BACK into the store when the alarm sounded, just keep walikng. once out of the store, if they call the police, just wait there OUTSIDE the store. this is because of simple rights issues. when in teh store, there is always a sign that the store reserves the right to check all bags on premises, something that by walking in you agree to. once out on the sidewalk, you are now in public domain, and a police officer will need a warrent to go into a bag. as long as you know your rights, you are always ok. if a cop wants to check your bag, they must arrest you first, something they dont want to do, as if you are not guilty of any wrongdoing, they can get slapped with a wrongful arrest, civil liberties violation and a host of other lawsuits, not to mention the ton of paperwork this will lead to.

    12 years ago

    You should definitely sue them. Many years ago the same thing happened to me at Sears. I ended up getting $7000. from them. I should have gone to court; I would have gotten more, but I settled. It was completely humiliating and they deserve to have to pay you every penny.

    12 years ago

    I hope this woman sues the pants off of them. They seem to hire psychotic plainclothed security guards. Years ago I remember shopping in this chain and this lunatic working there kept dogging me and had a weird smile on his face. I reported it to the HQ.

    DRE53
    DRE53
    12 years ago

    Without an adequate explanations why she brought the item back to the store, what would a receipt, a few weeks old, help her?

    qazxc
    qazxc
    12 years ago

    Sounds like NY’s finest could use a little more refining.

    iamoverhere
    iamoverhere
    12 years ago

    if she had it in her bag when she walked in, why didn’t the alarm go off when she went into the store?
    who says she didn’t pick the exact same thing she bought a week earlier and put it in her bag, i say

    GUILTY, LOCK HER UP

    cbdds
    cbdds
    12 years ago

    Years ago I was stopped exiting a TSS store in Sheepshead Bay. There was a show orthotic (custom made) sticking out of my pocket. I asked if I could make a phone call and the retarded guard said no. I screamed like a maniac that I was being kidnapped and the manager came over. When I showed him the item sticking out of my pocket I was released.
    I should have sued. the law says we should not steal. I also believe it also says that they must see you steal an item and go back into public property before they can accuse you

    ModernLakewoodGuy
    ModernLakewoodGuy
    12 years ago

    The bottle would have triggered the alarm the first time she bought it a few weeks ago, if it beeped this time also. Something seems very fishy. If it was a few weeks ago and a supplement she uses, the bottle would have been open and used, which it clearly was not.

    AuthenticSatmar
    AuthenticSatmar
    12 years ago

    This was not a false arrest. She was found with the item and couldn’t prove she paid for it. That later she was able to bring receipts doesn’t change the circumstances that led l14

    12 years ago

    #9 : Maybe the entrance doesn’t have an alarm (or has a defective one) and the exit does.
    #11: The alarms don’t always work.
    My daughter bought an item of clothing and found the alarm tag on it when she got it home. We had to take it back to the store (with the receipt of course) to get them to remove the tag. Presumably either the tag or the alarm system failed when she left the store.

    12 years ago

    I’ve experienced similar incidents at Walmart and other stores, whereby for some unknown reason that beeping machine goes off, even if a security tag has been removed. Some security machines (including those at the airport) are not calibrated properly, and will sound false alarms. Even when I’ve shown the receipts to the guards, they will still delay me, while they look over the receipt with a fine tooth comb. In some cases, I’ve had to show the retarded guards, specifically where the item was located on the receipt. Even when the beeping machine doesn’t go off, and I have the receipt in my hand, I’ve had guards come too close to look at my purchases. I’ve complained to Walmart, and one of them told me “Yes, she acts like Wyatt Earp”. Regarding the commentator who suggested that one keep walking if the beep goes off, the store security can still follow you outside, and even take down your license plate. Hence, it isn’t always a good idea to keep walking. As far as these stores go, one is guilty until proven innocent.

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    12 years ago

    #To 9 Did they bother checking if the bottle was started?? If it was, then sue the pants off them!!