the home of the brave

[Ivan_D]

What a fucked up country.


HONOLULU (AP) — Nicole Leszczynski couldn't imagine that two chicken salad sandwiches would land her and her husband in jail and her 2-year-old daughter in state custody. But it happened five days ago, when the 30-weeks-pregnant woman forgot to pay for her snack while grocery shopping.

"It was the most ridiculous chain of events that happened," she said while sobbing Monday. "It's still hard to believe what happened."

Leszczynski, 28, and her husband Marcin, 33, were handcuffed, searched then released on $50 bail each. Their ordeal at the police station lasted a few hours, but their daughter Zofia spent the night away from her parents in a case that has sparked nationwide outrage and forced the Safeway supermarket chain to review the incident.

The family had moved to an apartment near downtown Honolulu from California two weeks ago. Still settling in, they ventured out Wednesday to stock up on groceries, took the bus, got lost, and ended up at a Safeway supermarket.

Famished, the former Air Force staff sergeant picked up the two sandwiches that together cost $5. She openly munched on one while they shopped, saving the wrapper to be scanned at the register later.

But they forgot to pay for the sandwiches as they checked out with about $50 worth of groceries.

"When the security guard questioned us, I was really embarrassed, I was horrified," she said. They were led upstairs, where the couple expected to get a lecture, pay for the sandwiches, and be allowed on their way.

But store managers wouldn't allow them to pay for the sandwiches, she said.

"I asked to talk to a manager and he said it was against their policy to pay for items that left the store," she said. "The security guard said we were being charged with shoplifting."

Four hours later, a police officer arrived and read them their rights. A woman from the state Child Welfare Services arrived to take Zofia away.

The pregnant mother said she tried to keep her composure until Zofia, who turns 3 in December, left the store. "I didn't want Zofia to be scared because she's never spent a night away from us. She didn't have her stuffed animal. She didn't have her toothbrush."

But as soon as her daughter left, "I got completely hysterical. I went to the bathroom and I threw up," she recalled.

A Honolulu police spokeswoman said it was procedure to call Child Welfare Services if a child is present when both parents are arrested. The store's management did not know the girl would be taken away, said Susan Houghton, a spokeswoman for California-based Safeway Inc.

The national supermarket chain said it was looking into the incident. "It was never our intent to separate a mother from her child. That was a very unfortunate consequence to this situation," Houghton said. "We understand the outrage. We are concerned about how this was handled."

Leszczynski called the incident "so horrifying, it seemed to escalate and no one could say, 'this is too much.'"

The couple was handcuffed and driven separately to police headquarters a few blocks away, where they were searched, had their mug shots taken and then released after paying bail. A police officer escorted them back to the store — which banned them for a year, Leszczynski said — where they picked up their groceries and walked home just before midnight.

"We basically stared at each other all night. We woke up at the crack of dawn and called (the state child welfare office)," Leszczynski said. While they waited, Leszczynski vented about the experience on babycenter.com and contacted a lawyer for help with being reunited with Zofia. At the lawyer's suggestion, they took their story to the media.

Zofia was returned after an 18-hour separation from her parents.

The couple is charged with fourth-degree theft, a petty misdemeanor, and has a court date on Nov. 28, according to the city prosecutor's office. The family hasn't decided whether it will pursue legal action against Safeway.

Houghton said the company will review the police report and store security footage before deciding whether to press charges.

[Hate mail]

Maybe it's OK in Europe to just take other people's shit at will, and free of charge. That's why millions of us left that place for good and made it in the New World..

[Pareski do]

Тај феномен да нешто скинеш са рафова да би га грицкао до касе је посве амерички а не европски.

Већи аутомобили, веће раздаљине, веће количине, крупнија (безукуснија) храна, већи мегамаркети, већи редови, крупнији људи, мање стрпљења и уживања у куповини и разгледању.

[Hate mail]

A odakle je to sa neplacanjem?...

[Ivan_D]

Maybe it's OK in Europe to just take other people's shit at will, and free of charge. That's why millions of us left that place for good and made it in the New World..

Pa u Evropi svakako nije OK da zbog 5$ (pride ocigledne zabune) istraumiras trudnicu i trogodisnje joj dete.

[Hate mail]

Dete je zbrinuto po zakonu.

[Hate mail]

A o zabuni se jos razmatra.

[Ivan_D]

Poserem ti se na svaki zakon po kom se zbog kradje hrane u vrednosti 5$ ljudima uzme trogodisnje dete na 18 sati.

Just give it up. Znas da si u krivu.

[Hate mail]

When in Rome...

[Pareski do]

A odakle je to sa neplacanjem?...

Апроприсања индијанске земље на америчком тлу...

[Pijanista]

 :x

[Hate mail]

[Superhik]

Po zakonima zemlje Srbije, kradja dobara (hrane, novca, čegagod) u vrednosti do 15000 RSD (150€, ili 200$) predstavlja KD 'sitne kradje', i ne goni se po službenoj dužnosti.
Govorim o 'uzimanju dobara nadohvat ruke', dakle, ne odnosi se na provalnu kradju, razbojništvo, itd.

Kako to, teorijski, izgleda?

Pa, recimo, ovako:

Udjem u market i punim kolica, pazeći da ne premašim tih 15 soma.
Na kasi kažem da neću da platim, ili samo prodjem.
Zovu policiju.
Policija je u obavezi da utvrdi moje podatke i preda ih oštećenoj strani, radi pokretanja privatne tužbe.

To sve pod uslovom da me osoblje narečenog marketa ne odvali od batina, onako, privatno..

:)

[Tromotorac]

A odakle je to sa neplacanjem?...

Апроприсања индијанске земље на америчком тлу...

E sad stvarno seres.

[Superhik]

A i crnce maltretirate..

[Ivan_D]

I ovde slicno. Do 5,000 czk, tj. 200 eura.

Ja jednom isao kolima za Srbiju, bio Januar pretprosle godine cini mi se i stao da kupim benzin i setim se nemam godisnju markicu za auto put. Kupio jos neke sitnice, window wash, vodu, keks i trazim tu markicu na kasi, predhodno sam jos bio u wc-u, i ona me pita da li je to sve i ja kazem jeste i platim.

I negde u Madjarskoj pocnem nesto da razmisljam i stanem na sledecoj benzinskoj stanici da proverim i stvarno, platio sam sve osim benzina, koji je bio oko 1500 czk, tj 60 eura.
I odmah zvao druga, dao mu ime i adresu benzinske stanice koja je bila na racunu da nadje na internetu i da ih nazove. On ih nazvao, oni vec javili to policiji, ali da li mu broj racuna gde da posaljem novac i rekli sve ce biti u redu. Ja zamolio njega da odmah posalje novac jer nisam imao pristup internetu i da ih odmah nazove i da obaveste policiju. On to uradio i tamo mu rekli da svejedno nema nikakvih problema jer do 5000 kc, tj. 200 eura ne spada pod nekakav krivican zakon ili nesto.

Nikad posle stvarno nisam ni od koga cuo u vezi toga opet.

[Tromotorac]

Maybe it's OK in Europe to just take other people's shit at will, and free of charge. That's why millions of us left that place for good and made it in the New World..

Pa u Evropi svakako nije OK da zbog 5$ (pride ocigledne zabune) istraumiras trudnicu i trogodisnje joj dete.

Verovatno zato sto je Evropa na visem civilizacijskom nivou svesti. Ovde smo jos uvek po malo trigloditi.

Secam se kad sam pre 18+ godina radio u retail-u, loss prevention team je bio veoma ozbiljan. Zapravo najveci % kradje, govorili su, je inside job - zaposleni radnici kradu. A kradu i kupci. Kradu jer misle da mogu da se izvuku, sto se sigurno cesto desava.  Nas/USA civilizacijski nivo svesti, medjutim, reaguje ovako - ljudi kradu, ali kad uhvatimo jednog, makar i za benignu $5 kradju, napravicemo primer "to the full extend of the law" za ostale.  

Posmatrao sam vise puta kako loss prevention uhvati klince, ili bakice u kradji i kako ih ovi mole i izvinjavaju se, dok ne dodje policija. Onda, kad pocne proces, zbog nekih $20-$1000 ukradenih vrednosti, sudjenje/kazne/zatvor/criminal record ce ih kostati preko $10,000 pa nek drugi razmisljaju.

Sistem je surov, ali za ovaj civilizacijski nivo svesti sasvim dobro funkcionise.

[Tromotorac]

I ovde slicno. Do 5,000 czk, tj. 200 eura.

Ja jednom isao kolima za Srbiju, bio Januar pretprosle godine cini mi se i stao da kupim benzin i setim se nemam godisnju markicu za auto put. Kupio jos neke sitnice, window wash, vodu, keks i trazim tu markicu na kasi, predhodno sam jos bio u wc-u, i ona me pita da li je to sve i ja kazem jeste i platim.

I negde u Madjarskoj pocnem nesto da razmisljam i stanem na sledecoj benzinskoj stanici da proverim i stvarno, platio sam sve osim benzina, koji je bio oko 1500 czk, tj 60 eura.
I odmah zvao druga, dao mu ime i adresu benzinske stanice koja je bila na racunu da nadje na internetu i da ih nazove. On ih nazvao, oni vec javili to policiji, ali da li mu broj racuna gde da posaljem novac i rekli sve ce biti u redu. Ja zamolio njega da odmah posalje novac jer nisam imao pristup internetu i da ih odmah nazove i da obaveste policiju. On to uradio i tamo mu rekli da svejedno nema nikakvih problema jer do 5000 kc, tj. 200 eura ne spada pod nekakav krivican zakon ili nesto.

Nikad posle stvarno nisam ni od koga cuo u vezi toga opet.

Meni se slicno desilo ne jednom, nego dva puta. U ona davna studenska vremena pre credit cards, kad neznam sta sam zapravo razmisljao, desilo se da napunim rezervoar na pumpi i onda ukapiram da nemam novac sa sobom. Ni jednom nisu zvali policiju - jednom sam im ostavio vozacku dozvolu, drugi put sat, dok se nisam vratio i platio.  

Sve zavisi kako se ponasas, i kako "frame the conversation". Da sam probao da zbrisem, uhvatili bi me za manje od 2-3 minuta.

[Superhik]

Pa vidi, 3M, ja ne kažem da je srBski zakon dobar.
Naprotiv; lično bih se najebao majke svakom ko ukrade šibicu, a ne 15 soma.
Preventivno&profilaktički.

[Pareski do]

30-40% of the 13 colonies` population engaged in a rebellion against the British Crown because of a tax hike imposed on the whole Empire in order to finance the defence of their western border against Indians whose villages the colonial militia and irregulars marauded causing nothing short of an inter-colonial war with France. The taxes being incurred on them for their benefit were 1/26 of that in the rest of the British Empire...

I could have mentioned slavery, Halliburton's wars or TARP & other bailouts for too big to fail outfits but conjuring old debts pleases my Sovereign...

Rule Britannia - Last Night of the Proms 2008

[Tromotorac]

Ja ne kazem da smo mi u pravu, ili mozda vi. Jednostavno razlicita drustva/civilizacije imaju razlicit pristup resavanju problema kriminala.

Moj utisak je ovde da je prossecution veoma zelaous/zajeban, ali da je jury duty sistem suvise blag. Moj otac je proslog meseca proveo 4 dana u poroti za kriminalni slucaj pijane majke koja je u rikvercu zakucala auto u komsijinu garazu. Imala dete u kolima i optuzili je izmedju ostalog (5 optuzbi) za "child abuse". Porota se nakon 4 dana, 5 sati objasnjavala i na kraju su samo odlucili za "DUI". Izvukla se.

Tako nesto ce biti i sa ovim nesrecnicima na Havajima. Prossecutors ce da im nakace sve sto mogu, a onda ce ovi da puknu za advokata, i dobice novcanu/uslovnu kaznu. I nikad vise u zivotu nece da grickaju hranu dok je ne plate. Tako to ide...