- Jurisdiction
- US Federal Law
I am a military spouse who was arrested at the Navy exchange for shoplifting because I accidentally left a $3 item in my baby's stroller when I checked out. I paid for $40 worth of items and then was stopped in the parking lot by loss prevention. I was arrested and taken the police station on base and given a citation for $250. They have video of me in the store and seemed to imply that it proves my guilt, but I never attempted to conceal the item or anything like that. All the video will show is me putting the item in the bottom of the stroller along with all the other items I purchased, and then not pulling it out at the register. I plan to go to court and fight this because I have a clean record and I don't want something like this coming up in the future. My question is how I can have the best chance of beating this and also if for some reason they find me guilty can they make the penalty worse than it already is?