At the end of November, a client we had helped with a rather difficult matter about five years earlier came to see us at the firm. We were glad to see him again, but he had not come for a chat. His wife had got caught up in an unpleasant situation and was facing trouble with the police, possibly followed by a criminal penalty.
The Fateful Yogurt
Our client, a German citizen, had married a little over a year earlier a woman from the same part of the world he himself comes from — a Russian city. Tatjana moved to Germany to join her husband. She soon became pregnant. Pregnancy changes the life of a woman and her family in many ways. But sometimes a trip to the shops can change your life disastrously. Tatjana's experience proves it. One day she popped into the nearest supermarket on impulse, since she was passing by anyway. She suddenly felt like buying some fruit and a yogurt. She did not take a shopping basket. The fruit fit in her hands, and the yogurt went into her jacket pocket. After paying at the checkout, Tatjana headed for the exit. But there was no getting past — a bearded security guard blocked her way and asked her to come with him to a staff room.
Tatjana, who did not understand what was happening and did not yet speak enough German, was confused and could not work out what was wanted of her. But under the scrutinising looks of the other customers, a jolt went through her mind: "You didn't pay for the yogurt!" Breaking out in a cold sweat, the pregnant woman pulled the little bottle, worth about one and a half euros, out of her pocket. The detective's beard rose with particular pride: a serious theft had been uncovered, and almost a group offence at that — after all, Tatjana was already eight months pregnant, and at that stage, as everyone knows, the baby is already fully formed. The "group offence" was, of course, only a joke. The real issue lay elsewhere. And the detective had very weighty reasons for demanding that the store management call the police to file a report.
Not for Jesus' Sake
There is a Russian saying about feigned devotion: "Not for Jesus' sake, but for the sake of bread." It means that people work for a crust of bread, not out of conviction. In the same way, working as a store detective is not some innate urge of the security guard to fight shoplifting. Remember, too, the film "Das Experiment" (The Experiment) by director Oliver Hirschbiegel, or go and watch it. The psychology of security staff often shows certain peculiarities connected with a thirst for power and sadism. The chance to feel superior to another person from time to time is often a particularly strong motivator for employees in this field, where watching customers is not especially well paid. This psychological profile by no means determines how thieves behave — they have their own personal deformations. But it has a great deal to do with how detectives behave once they have a victim in their hands. And yes, this is important too: every offence uncovered and every offender handed over to the police earns the detective a nice bonus on top of his salary. You could say these people work on commission.
Last year our firm handled a case in which a colonel of Azerbaijan's Ministry of the Interior was detained for shoplifting goods worth three euros. The colonel had, of course, long since retired and had also long ceased to be a citizen of that warm Caucasian country, having become a citizen of rainy Germany instead. He had a Swiss army knife in his pocket. On that basis, an attempt was made to accuse him of "Diebstahl mit Waffen" (theft while carrying a weapon) — up to ten years in prison, just to be on the safe side. The intervention of our firm's lawyers essentially put a stop to this arbitrary treatment of an elderly man suffering from age-related dementia. For the sake of a bonus, store detectives are often prepared to put a person through the wringer. That is simply how this business works. You therefore have to be prepared for consequences that go far beyond the moral qualms of a customer who accidentally failed to pay for some small item and only later realised the unintended theft.
Prospects
Everything here depends on the amount of the damage, whether the theft was planned or spontaneous, whether it is a first incident or the person already has a string of similar episodes behind them. It also matters a great deal whether price tags were swapped or labels re-stuck. In that case an aggravating element is added to simple theft — Urkundenfälschung (forgery of documents). And that means a different penalty range. If the intentional or unintentional thief is carrying a knife, this can be classified as theft while carrying a weapon. In such a case, even a fine no longer feels symbolic, even if the person has been caught for the first time. In all these situations, the rule is: if you have been stopped by a detective and the theft was merely the result of inattention, stress or illness, do not make any statement without first speaking to a lawyer. The security companies that monitor the sales floors of large shops have a direct interest in criminal proceedings being opened. For them it means clear-up statistics for shoplifting, a better reputation for the agency and additional bonus payments from their clients. And every word the detained person says can be used against them.
In Tatjana's case, everything went differently from what lawyers would advise. She handed back the yogurt and, confused and with insufficient German, could not explain clearly what had happened. But she evidently admitted that she had carried the yogurt past the checkout. What made matters worse was that she had put the yogurt bottle in her pocket. Had she tossed it into her handbag and forgotten to show it at the checkout, the case would more likely have been seen as regrettable forgetfulness. But an item put in a pocket tends to be interpreted as an intention to steal. Cultural differences cannot always be explained. In Russia, for example, people still carry drink bottles and other purchases in their pockets to this day. For many Russians, then, putting things in their pockets is a matter of practical logistics, not a criminal talent.
Even taking into account that Tatjana had been stopped for an unpaid item for the first time and that criminal prosecution could be ruled out almost one hundred percent, the prospect of a substantial fine was very real.
Added to this is the stress that inevitably comes with a police visit and giving a statement — from uncertainty, from fear of the future, and from the awareness of the disproportion between a silly accident worth one and a half euros and the consequences intended for people with criminal intent. And all of this in the late stages of pregnancy. Contacting lawyers was the wisest decision Tatjana and her husband could have made in this situation.
Chasing Away the Clouds with Bare Hands
After talking to Tatjana, it was obvious to our firm's lawyers that there had been no intent to steal in what she did. Now the public prosecutor's office (Staatsanwaltschaft) had to be convinced of this. If no objections are raised to the way the police have handled a matter, a case can end up in court quickly and without much effort. Contacting our firm in good time prevented an even greater misfortune. After requesting the investigation file, our lawyers promptly prepared an application to discontinue the criminal proceedings on the grounds that no criminal offence had been committed.
The shop suffered no loss, as the yogurt went back on the shelf, its packaging was undamaged and it was perfectly fit for sale. The amount of any possible loss was negligible. Moreover, no loss actually occurred at all. The shop could perfectly well have demanded payment of the price of the item and an appropriate fine and closed the matter there. Because of her advanced pregnancy and hormonal changes, Tatjana experiences certain health problems. This readily explains how, while walking through the shop and queuing at the checkout, she could forget the bottle of yogurt in her pocket. She had paid for the other goods, which were worth far more. The application also asked that Tatjana's still short time in Germany and her lack of familiarity with all local customs be taken into account.
The public prosecutor's office accepted our arguments, and the proceedings were discontinued entirely. Yet the security guard, purely out of a desire for a bonus, could have done considerable damage to Tatjana's future stay in Germany. So once again: if you find yourself in a difficult situation that could be classified as theft, do not make any statement. Contact experienced lawyers straight away! As experience shows, this makes life considerably easier.
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