Asked 6/17/2016 – Houston, TX

Was accused of shoplifting.
I was asked for my receipt on the way out of the store, and was told that I didn’t pay for some of the groceries in my cart.
I was so surprise but the security was correct. I left some un bagged items worth about $ 20 bucks in a corner of the cart covered by the other groceries.
I told the security sorry for that to happen and asked him to let me go back inside and pay for them, but instead the guy said that he could not do that.
He took me in a room where he asked for my ID wrote all my info and took a picture of me.
There was no police involved, nether I signed any documents; then he just asked me to leave the store and don’t come back within 24 hours.
Now after 3 weeks of that unfortunate incident for me, I received a letter from a law firm representing the store telling me that I’m liable for a civil demand in the amount of $ 300
They want me to pay for $300 for groceries that are not even worth $20 dollars and that they kept with them.
This was such an embarrassing moment for me, I have very clean record and never been accused or convicted from anything in my life.
I feel so frustrated; don’t know what to do at this point.
Help

Answer

Throw the demand letter away. It deals with a potential civil suit which virtually never gets filed and has nothing to do with any criminal prosecution against you. If you receive any notice from any court or police department, contact a local attorney. Otherwise, go in peace.