Stockton 7-11 clerks went too far in viciously beating brazen shoplifter | Opinion

Store clerks have legal options when someone shoplifts. Teaming up to brutally beat the thief isn’t one of them.

No wonder two 7-11 clerks in Stockton who battered a would-be shoplifter with a wooden rod are being investigated by police, as reported on TV news. Although brazen stealing is frustrating, costly and dangerous to store employees, confronting it with violence that far exceeds self-defense is not the answer.

Most people watching the first part of a viral video taken by a bystander will be shocked at the way a man with partially concealed face methodically sweeps stacks of cigarette cartons off a shelf with his arms and into a bag-lined garbage bin on July 29. Viewers might be outraged and angry that the suspect seemed to believe he could calmly walk out with stolen goods, unimpeded.

These types of images symbolize growing public frustration over brazen theft occurring in public stores that many of us frequent. Part of our outrage is that we imagine ourselves faced with sudden danger while minding our own business while shopping.

In this case, the robber was impeded from “getting away with it.” One clerk grabs the shoplifter’s arms and takes him to the ground while another man wails on the suspect with a staff or pole — raining more than two dozen blows in full-arc swings, mostly to his legs and torso as the man screams in pain.

Where is the line when it comes to protecting property?

California law gives a homeowner the right to confront an intruder with deadly force. That right does not extend to commercial property subjected to shoplifting.

This is an important distinction and one wonders if the legal outcome of this confrontation results in felony assault charges for those who went too far defending a store from theft that may not have even risen to a felony charge. The justice system will decide this.

Readers of The Modesto Bee recently learned the ins and outs of citizen’s arrest. If you observe a crime, you can lawfully detain someone until the cops arrive, reporter Dominique Williams explained. “Reasonable” force is OK under some circumstances, Modesto police told her.

But a citizen’s arrest that goes wrong could lead to civil or criminal charges such as assault and battery, false imprisonment or kidnapping, according to the Shouse California Law Group. “If there isn’t an immediate threat to their own or others’ safety, citizens should be encouraged to let police handle the situation,” Williams wrote with reference to a California Department of State Hospitals policy manual.

Frustration doesn’t justify violence

No doubt the Stockton clerks were frustrated. Authorities said the partially masked man had reportedly stolen from the store before. A Stockton police station is just across the street from the store, which may have contributed to the frustration of the store clerks. But again, we don’t know that, shouldn’t assume that and even if this were the case, frustration over theft on commercial property is not a justification for violence, in the eyes of the law.

Police in Stockton are busy with weighty matters, as they are in Sacramento, Modesto and elsewhere. Petty theft often doesn’t get the cops’ attention, and if a thief is arrested, the punishment handed out in court typically is light.

But thrashing the guy with a big rod, viciously and repeatedly, is not a lawful response.

The bystander recording this display of vigilantism saw the beating for what it was and tried to intervene verbally, asking the clerks to stop and ushering the bruised man toward the door. Before exiting, the shoplifter asked for a soda, calling into question his mental state. At no time did he appear to pose a physical threat to the clerks.

Street justice may be popular in movies or among frustrated citizens, but it has no place in a society governed by the rule of law.

This story was originally published August 4, 2023 at 2:17 PM.