So, only customers who are not loyal should be treated as criminals?

[ Theft sucks and I wish that shoplifters were treated more harshly than they are, but the fact is that I am not a shiplifter shoplifter and shouldn’t have to forfeit my civil rights when leaving a store. ]

How does one identify shoplifters?
Do they have “shoplifter” tattooed on their foreheads?
Why did you ask the store manager to accuse you of shoplifting?

[ I asked him what would happen if I never learned to drive and didn’t have a driver’s license. After all, at the time that he arrested me I was standing on a sidewalk outside a Circuit City. I wasn’t driving a car, and even when I was seated in the Buick I was a back seat passenger. The officer never gave me a satisfactory answer to this question, but promised to explain the law to me after I was booked. ]

In answer to your question, you would still be arrested. It’s a stupid question, coupled with some stupid assumptions. The investigation was not in connection to a vehicular crime.

[ ORD:525.07: Obstructing Official Business (M-2)
(a) No person, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s offical capacity shall do any act that hampers or impedes a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties.

Not being able to find the law in the books that states that a citizen must provide a driver’s license while walking through a parking lot, Officer Arroyo had to settle for “obstructing official business.” Keep in mind that the official business that I was supposedly obstructing was business that I initiated by calling the police. I called for help and I got arrested. ]

Though the actual arrest was legal, the subsequent charge was bogus. That’s why they dropped it, not for the reason you gave. A saving grace for you is that you did not resist arrest, then you would have recieved some tangible evidence of the fact that the officer acted in full compliance of the law in arresting you.

[ After being released I stuck around the police station for a little while to fill out the necessary paper work to press charges against the Circuit City manager who physically prevented me from leaving the parking lot. I’m most interested in seeing my charges dropped for refusing to present identification, but I view that as a completely separate issue from the store manager interfering with my egress. ]

How much damages are you looking for?

[ I can reluctantly understand having to show a permit to fish, a permit to drive and a permit to carry a weapon. Having to show a permit to exist is a scary idea which I got a strong taste of today. ]

You are required to show reasonable proof of identity if there are reasonable grounds to suspect you of a crime; not the lie you told.

[ 2921.29 (C) Nothing in this section requires a person to answer any questions beyond that person’s name, address, or date of birth. Nothing in this section authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person for not providing any information beyond that person’s name, address, or date of birth or for refusing to describe the offense observed. ]

Maybe it’s covered in another statute, dumbass!

[ I stated my name to the police officer, and if he had asked me for my address and date of birth I would have provided that as well. The officer specifically asked for my driver’s license and this is what I was unwilling to provide. If I’m reading this correctly it would appear that Ohio’s law specifically protects citizens from having to hand over driver’s licenses unless they are operating a motor vehicle. This is what I always believed, but it’s nice to see it in writing. ]

You did not read it correctly. Seeing it in writing did not help your comprehension any.

[ I wanted to fight the charges in court and I wanted to win based on the merits of my case. ]

You would have lost.

[ I felt that it was important to set a legal precedent that would help others in the future. ]

The precedent has already been set. You would have lost. James Dean is dead and you are dead wrong. The only “others” who would have been helped are the lawyers.

[ At this point I was stuck between two choices. Behind Door #1 was an eight to twelve month legal battle, three or more separate hearings including a jury trial, potential legal fees in the dozens of thousands of dollars and a lot of duress for my best witnesses: my family. Behind Door #2 was the immediate drop of the matter in exchange for giving up the right to seek civil damages against the police department. ]

That’s a change. What happened to this: [ My hearing is scheduled for September 20th, 2007. I will be contacting the ACLU and the IDP on Tuesday (the next business day), and I plan to fight these charges no matter what it takes. ]

Was it before of after your lawyer informed you that you would have lost, that you decided to backpeddle?
I also notice that you have gone from describing the event as, “unlawful arrest” to describing it as, “arrested on September 1st, 2007″ You do realise that the first statement is slander and though what you were initially charged with wouldn’t have stood up, that charge would? Is this why you are now more circumspect?

[ I hope that my story has made some people think twice about giving up their rights to businesses and law enforcement alike. ]

Yeah, I’m sure this story will motivate a large part of America to get their ass locked up for no good reason and put themselves out of pocket for thousands of dollars, just so that they can gain some notoriety.

No. I am not a store manager nor owner–just a citizen-shopper like yourselves. Probably a bit older than many of you.

Interesting, immediate update. My wife, having just finished her walk on our treadmill, stopped by my “office” (unused bedroom) door to chat. After explaining what I was doing she related to me of an event which took place long ago, so long ago that I had forgotten about it. An acquaintance of hers working at a check-out counter of a large department store tried to “gift her” by sliding an item through without entering the price onto the ticket. My wife refused and had to insist that this acquaintance ring up that particular item which, she did. I came to my conclusion, mentioned above, without remembering this unfortunate episode, my memory being about as long as my … well, let’s just say “he’s” not the proud “member” “he” used to be. Help the stores prevent $$$ loss.