Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft Walmart needs to pay attention

M

Mybroatemyhomework

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
My brother was caught shoplifting at Walmart and at the time he had stolen my ID so instead of showing his ID and using his name he used mine. Well now I have a warrant and think that Walmart should deal with this instead of making me jump thru all these hoops when you can clearly see the signature is different and the video shows my brother not me. I would be happy if I can get some advise please thank you for your time.
 
This is out of Wal-Mart's hands at this point.

Are you certain there is a warrant? How do you know?

If there is, go to your local PD or sheriff and tell them you have a warrant. You can also tell them of the identity issue and they should initiate a new criminal report.

What your brother did is commit a felony to try and avoid a misdemeanor.

The only way to clear the warrant is to have it served and appear in court. It is unlikely they would take you to jail on the warrant. They might photograph and fingerprint you, but you should most likely be released with a citation to appear in court later and explain what happened.
 
mightymoose said:
This is out of Wal-Mart's hands at this point.

Are you certain there is a warrant? How do you know?

If there is, go to your local PD or sheriff and tell them you have a warrant. You can also tell them of the identity issue and they should initiate a new criminal report.

What your brother did is commit a felony to try and avoid a misdemeanor.

The only way to clear the warrant is to have it served and appear in court. It is unlikely they would take you to jail on the warrant. They might photograph and fingerprint you, but you should most likely be released with a citation to appear in court later and explain what happened.
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I was sent something in the mail saying I have a warrant. This has been going on for sometime know my brother has went to jail and swears that he served time for that crime. I'm pissed that Walmart did such a bad job in there investigation and really don't want to go thru all of this even though I think I have to unless I get a Attorney am I right?
 
Mybroatemyhomework said:
I was sent something in the mail saying I have a warrant. This has been going on for sometime know my brother has went to jail and swears that he served time for that crime. I'm pissed that Walmart did such a bad job in there investigation and really don't want to go thru all of this even though I think I have to unless I get a Attorney am I right?
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This is easy to resolve, but you must be proactive.

Your brother committed identity theft, as well as any other crimes.

You need to go in person to the police agency that arrested him, or the prosecutor who filed the charges.

Bring your ID, tell your story, be prepared to sign various legal papers to get this monkey off of your back and placed on the back of the perpetrator.

You need not rat your brother out.

You simply need to prove to the authorities that someone impersonated you, committed crimes, and now you're taking the rap.
 
Even with an attorney you will have good too jump through.

Who sent the notice about the warrant?

If it is legitimate, the fact that they sent you a notice in the mail tells you a lot about how petty it is. You really should get it taken care of so it doesn't bite you at a very inconvenient and unexpected time.

Considering what your brother has already done I doubt you can take his word for it that the matter was handled. Something that hasn't been addressed is his unlawful use of your identity that caused a warrant to be issued for you rather than him.

Wal-Mart has no responsibility here.
 
Mybroatemyhomework said:
My brother was caught shoplifting at Walmart and at the time he had stolen my ID so instead of showing his ID and using his name he used mine. Well now I have a warrant and think that Walmart should deal with this instead of making me jump thru all these hoops when you can clearly see the signature is different and the video shows my brother not me. I would be happy if I can get some advise please thank you for your time.
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No you have to deal with it. It's not Walmart's fault that your brother used your name and ID to get out of trouble.

When did you call the police about your stolen ID? I would call my brother in if he did this.

This sounds like something my ex would do and has done. He uses his brother's name to get out of trouble when he gets pulled over because he has no license and a record and his brother has a clean record. And it has worked twice that I know of. He looks nothing like his brother either - they just ran the name and it comes up fine.
 
Mybroatemyhomework said:
Well now I have a warrant and think that Walmart should deal with this instead of making me jump thru all these hoops
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You're kidding, right? Feel free to call up the company's general counsel (whose identity and contact info is readily available online) and see how that goes.

Mybroatemyhomework said:
I would be happy if I can get some advise please
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For starters, if your brother was apprehended, why is there a warrant? In any event, you'll need to retain an attorney to help you. You can then sue your brother for the costs. Of course, you know better than we do whether you have any chance of recovering anything.
 
I think that the issue here is that the ID that was used was not a photo ID. Matching signatures will almost certainly not be an issue held against Walmart. I don't know that they did a horrible job with their investigation. They reported what they had to the police and it appears your brother's representation as to his identity was accepted by the police. The police and the justice system is the party you'll need to contact for the solution to the problem. Good luck.
 
zddoodah said:
I don't see anything in either of the OP's posts in this thread that says this.
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It is implied. If there was a photo then the poster would have pointed out that the people are different in the photo on the ID rather than claiming that Walmart should have been able to identify differences in signature, assuming Walmart was even to obtain a signature (e.g. such as getting a shoplifter to sign a statement on the premises.)
 
Even if WalMart saw a photo ID, it is still the police who made the arrest and the state who brought criminal charges. WalMart at most stopped him from leaving and called the police. It doesn't matter one bit what he showed to whom.

If your brother already went to court, got convicted, and served time for this crime, the police already figured out that it was not you, but him. There would not be a warrant out on you as "you already went to jail for the crime. This warrant is either because they believe you to be an accomplice, or for something else entirely. Given the apparent amount of time which has passed and the fact that there has already been a conviction, my bet is on the something else entirely.
 
Considering the brother was not only caught shoplifting at Walmart but also passing himself off as another member of his family, one has to consider the fact that his story about having already served time for the crime may be yet another lie.
 
You can resolve this entire situation by contacting the agency holding the warrant and tell them what happened and it wasn't you who stole from store.
 
shrinkmaster said:
You can resolve this entire situation by contacting the agency holding the warrant and tell them what happened and it wasn't you who stole from store.
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That is hardly a resolution. No one at the law enforcement agency involved would pay any attention to that and it's not up to them to adjudicate the case anyway. The warrant is a court order to bring the defendant before a judge. This matter has to be adjudicated in a courtroom and the OP needs an attorney.
 

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