3 months ago my cousin stole books from a store, and he said alarm went off and they saw him walk out and get in his car. If they for his plate numbers and choose to press charges what would happen ? He has not heard anything from police and he called courts and they don't have any warrant for him... he is also on probation and wonders if his PO would have known if they were pursuing him

If someone didn't show up on the doorstep with a badge in the first few days, chances are no one knows/cares.

Yeah, they must have not written it down or made a mistake on the license plate number cause it can be easily connected back to an address by the police.

They probably need more than just a plate number and an alarm. In order for a conviction they'd need video or witnesses and other evidence. The police probably won't arrest someone that can't be convicted.

So if store wanted to press charges police would go to question suspect or just put out warrant or summons for them..

You can never predict what the police will do...

Oh, forgot ~tell your cousin not to shoplift anymore. Its really a dumb thing to do!

Yea I told him , but I don't get it, if they were going to charge him they would send summons , show up to question him , or put out warrant ? And his PO wouldve known right

I went to my local courthouse today to ask if I had any unpaid fines from years ago and fortunatly I did not , but if I had a warrant for anything else besides the fines would it have popped up on their computer ? Like if I had charges pressed on me for something else and never was notified for it...
Would they have seen it when they ran my name

Yes. He probably got away with it.

So they probably would have to question him before they charged him for it ? They wouldn't just put out warrant or summons..

Yea shady they would have, like say for instance if you had shoplifted but got away. Say you were in a bookstore (just an example) and you took a couple books and the alarm went off as you ran out to your car. A store employee followed you out and got your license plate number... and low and behold there WAS a warrant issued for that, they would have nabbed you today.

No they are probably setting up a sting operation. You are probably being watched right now.
















If you don't do stupid things you don't have to worry about getting caught and getting away but seen and then what?


No one can tell for sure what is going to happen because we don't know really what kind of evidence the store has. Usually the person has to be caught read handed at the scene or fleeing the scene for shoplifing charges. Chances are you or your cousin got away this time. I hope if either of you ever even thinks about stealing anything again you have a full blown panic attack, just thinking about it!


Be a good person from now on.

Or they would have sent a summons I guess ?

Did you get a summons?

No I didn't . I just don't understand why sometimes they send summons or sometimes they put out warrants. Is a summons just to go to court, and a warrant is only if you don't answer a summons... and in this situation wouldn't you have to be notified if you were to be charged or questioned first...

no i didnt . i just dont understand why sometimes they send summons or sometimes they put out warrants. is a summons just to go to court, and a warrant is only if you dont answer a summons...........and in this situation wouldnt you have to be notified if you were to be charged or questioned first.....

A summons is to appear in court. A warrant is for your arrest.

J_9 is right.

If you'd be a little more honest we could probably give you more specific answers that more closely pertain to your specific situation.

There are a number of reasons people are summonsed to court.

What do you mean be more honest . I told you what happened.

OK I thought maybe you and your cousin might really be the same person. I'm not trying to accuse you of anything, just trying to make sure I understand what you are asking.

No we aren't the same person. Why , would it be differnet consequences if it was me or him ?

You understand what happened don't you

I think so. I don't think you have anything at all to worry about. Just stay out of trouble and you should have smooth sailing :)

One time I forgot to pay a ticket. By the time I remembered to pay it, I had a warrant. I worried that I could be arrested just going in to pay it, but luckily they just let me pay it and did not arrest me. If you went in and asked if you had any past unpaid fines and they said no, they also would have known if you had a warrant for anything else. You're safe! YIPPE!!

No, if you merely went to the court house where you may owe fines they may not have a NCIC access to see if there are warrants in other areas nor may they know of a even a local warrant.

You will need to get a actuall police background check to know if there are any warrants

Yes we are watching them . HUMMMM

no, if you merely went to the court house where you may owe fines they may not have a NCIC access to see if there are warrants in other areas nor may they know of a even a local warrant.

You will need to get a actuall police background check to know if there are any warrants



Absolutely - and I've posted this before. The Courthouse records and Police records are two different things.

So they probably would have to question him before they charged him for it ? they wouldnt just put out warrant or summons......?


It would be an arrest warrant, not a summons, if the Police are so inclined.

Shady, if you've been shady in more than your local court jurisdiction you should check county state and national too, to be sure you don't have a warrant sitting around somewhere. You can go to the Sheriff's office and ask for a background check and they can run you through their computer system to see if anything comes up from anywhere in the country.

shady, if you've been shady in more than your local court jurisdiction you should check county state and national too, to be sure you don't have a warrant sitting around somewhere. You can go to the Sheriff's office and ask for a background check and they can run you through their computer system to see if anything comes up from anywhere in the country.


In my area (NY) the Police are connected to the nationwide system. If the Police don't have it in one jurisdiction, they don't have it in another.

I'm sure this varies from State to State.

When I run a background I go to one Police Department.

But if he shoplifted in that township woulnt it be in their computers? And wouldn't his PO have found out when he ran a routine warrant check on him

Right , and he checked with the township courts and they had no warrants on him... and what about his PO finding out

If there was no complaint, no arrest warrant, there's nothing to put on the computer so, no, it wouldn't be on the Township's computer.

Information obtained on this site may or may not be accurate. All posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author alone.

NCIC is available to Federal, state, and local law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies and is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.



In compliance with the TOS I am simply offering my view and/or opinion only. In the giving of my view or opinion, I do not in any way imply or state a relationship of any kind.


If you are still worried, why not call the local court house you went to and ask them if they have NCIC access and if they used that to tell you that you had no past fines. If you lived in my neck of the woods, the Sheriff at the court house could do that for you ~and check for warrants too

My opinion is that the PO is not going to find out. This happened 3 months ago? It is my opinion and my view that if the PO was going to find out he would have found out by now.

My personal opinion is that the PO is not going to find out. This happened 3 months ago? It is my opinion and my view that if the PO was going to find out he would have found out by now.



Agreed - I would think (aside from the conversational/advice aspect) that if ANYONE intended to do anything, they would have done it by now.

Also he was pulled over for running a red light so when the cop ran his name then wouldn't warrant have come up or do they not do a NCIC check on traffic stops... this was like a month ago

Maybe he should do one of these online warrant checks?? Its not possible warrant is out and he isn't notified and his PO never ran his name to check recently< But still I think he would be brought in for questioning first...

Yeah but doesn't that look suspicious, if they already told him he has no warrants , why would he go and say "just wondering if you did NCIC check" Don't you think his PO runs his name once in a while to make sure he doesn't have warrants.. guess he could pay to do one online, but really I think he would have heard either in mail , by police visit to house , or when he got pulled over for a traffic stop a month ago..

What no one seems to know is if store wanted to get him for it , would he be questioned first and then charged , sent court summons, just have warrant, or what? Isn't there a process that this whole thing goes by ?

Yes there is a process. I don't promote shoplifting. It is a common thing to do but if you think about the consequences (and I can see you are thinking about that) you can see why it is a really bad idea. When your cousin got away the "process" was interrupted. When someone gets arrested for shoplifting, the normal process is that they are nabbed just inside or just outside the store and held by security until the police arrive and arrest them. If they get away the process is interrupted and more often than not, the process stops. If you have this much anxiety about legal consequences how could you ever have broken the law? The police are not going to bring your cousin in for questioning. Shoplifting is not a crime that usually gets investigated like a murder... however it is a crime and if you ask me it is a really bad crime.

Shady... why not call the court house or wherever it is you checked for past fines, ask anonymously whether they have access to and use NCIC to do checks when someone comes in wondering about any problems that may be in their past. That would be free and if you really wanted to be shady about it, you could call from a pay phone :)

Good idea, and if they say yes then what , I have to give them his name?

Well when he did it , he was on drugs , not an exscuse just trying to tell you drugs make people do desperate things, and I've told him this and he is doing better now. Anyway he just thinks that they saw his license plates and wouldve reported him since alarm went off and they saw him walk out... maybe they didn't get his plates or just aren't bothering since it was only couple books, but he still is scared to go back to jail. He is almost off probation and wants to get life back on track so he wishes he could know how to put this behind him.

I think he has a good chance of it all being behind him if he keeps his head on straight from now on and doesn't make any stupid mistakes. Drugs can cause people to do stupid things they wouldn't otherwise do, shoplifting being one of them. How much longer before probation is over?

Why doesn't your cousin simply go to the Police Station and ask if there's a warrant? If there is he needs to get things straightened out before he violates probation.

The original question has been asked and answered - and answered - and answered.

And the police aren't going to wonder why he thinks he may have a warrant?!

In August its over... but even though its been 3 months since he did it he is still really worried that they could just be taking awhile to get around to it or just haven't notified him

*sigh* Ok they are not waiting to spring it on him at the last minute. Did he have a court appointed lawyer for whatever it is he is on probation for? What is it that he needs to do in order to relieve his fears? If he can answer that, that is what he should do because all this speculation is just going to give you both nightmares!
I hope the 2 of you have a brighter and sunnier future :)

Umm,, he could tell them he thought he might have had a parking ticket he forgot about long ago.. Might work?

And the police arent gonna wonder why he thinks he may have a warrant???!?!!!?!?


Again - I pull records, check records all the time. Never once have the Police asked me why - never once.

So, no, the Police aren't "gonna wonder" why he thinks he is asking. People applying to be bonded, applying for professional licenses, concerned about identity theft check their records all the time. They aren't asked about it, either.

Again - I pull records, check records all the time. Never once have the Police asked me why - never once.

So, no, the Police aren't "gonna wonder" why he thinks he is asking. People applying to be bonded, applying for professional licenses, concerned about identity theft check their records all the time. They aren't asked about it, either.

Didn't think about that, its true. They shouldn't wonder, they don't care :)

So he would have to go to the police station and say "can you run my name to check warrants " and they would do it ? And this is different than court clerk looking him up in computer ? Is there a way to do it online if he is scared to go to police station

Well maybe he shouuld just forget it and it will be OK...

First of course the court house is not where you go to check,
If they want to really know you merely go to the police department that does background checks. It is a common everyday practice for people to get checks done for job, I have had to get my own done twice this year

So you don't think he would have been notified if the store intended to pursue him ?

Or that his PO would have got him ? I'm sure he is scared to go to polcie station being on probation and all

PO may ( or may not) check computer on their people a couple time of years. But if he is scared to merely go into a police station ( OK here they have even like drive up windows or what look like bank teller windows inside)
And ask for a simple background search that is done by dozens of people every day . He has serious issues of being scared for a lot of wrong reasons.

In the end, he can worry and be scared and doubt and always worry about who is knocking on the door, or he can merely go check

So he would have to go to the police station and say "can you run my name to check warrants " and they would do it ? and this is different than court clerk looking him up in computer ? is there a way to do it online if he is scared to go to police station



Time to combine both treads and close the subject. The person posting cannot possibly still be not understanding and I believe we have a troll.

I've merged the two threads.

Your questions have been answered to the best of our ability. Please stop reasking. We aren't psychic so we don't know what the store or the police are thinking.

Thank you, I was trying to merge I guess at the same time, I have also closed the thread.

In the end, the "maybe" well he maybe hit by a flying rock thrown form a bridge but you have to go on. If he wants to find out he goes in and asks for a criminal history not to see if he has any warrants , please use the right words.

I have to believe this is either not true, just a made up story or you guys are so young that you just don't understand anything.