give me some advice...........

Today I caught at the mall... As a Theft under 5000

After school I went to the mall in downtown and went into le château which is a cloth store... I was by myself... When I got into there, I saw a dress which I liked for this whole symester. And that was on the sale corner.

When I pick that dress up, automatically I obsessed by desire.
The price was around 70~80 dollars, however, I only had 50 dollars.
Then I decided to get the dress by taking the plastic tag off... Stupid... Because the dress was made of some silk&chemical nilon?? Stuff, the tag didn't take off easily. Then I remembered I had my cosmetic scissor in my pouch.

I put my scissor out and tried to cut the tag out... And the employeer who suspected me secretly called the security guard.

So.. I went to the private room(criminal room? ) with security guard.
Then the guard asked me for my address, phone number, and name.

Because I am an international student who lives with guardian, instead of parents, the guard asked my guardian's number too.

Then he called to the police and explained my situation.

I am 17 years old and an international student who has with no crimal record (first offence).

After talked with police, the guard released me. I banned from the mall for one year. He said that the police will come to my house( homestaying house), within 1 week, and the police will do everything. He said something about court and forms.

According to the other answers that I saw in this site, I think the form might about court date and fingerprint stuff...

Right now I am so nervous and afraid...

No one in my house knows yet...

What should I do and What the police will do to me? How long will it take to police to come to my house?
Will I go to court? Do I have to find my lawyer(I read other posts and everybody was talking about a lawyer thingy ...)? Do I have to pay charge or go to jail ?? Will the police come without noticing to me (I wrote my cell number there)?Do I have to tell to my guardian or my parents before they get shock by the police? Will the police report to my school? HELP ME....I'm sooo maseed up ...................

I'm really regreting my falut...

This is my case:
International student living in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Leaving Canada on June 27th (moving to USA), maybe never comeback again after June 27th
17 years old female (Under 18!)
First offense
It says "theft under 5000, mistheft" on the brief form that the guard wrote

Can I ask something Babygh0st?
I also send you a private messege.

Hi. I saw your post which was really helpful to me.

Basically, yesterday I caught at the mall as Mistheft, Theft under!

It was my first offence and I was just being stupid and such...

ALSO I'm 17 years old now. (under 18)

And.. an international student (not Canadian)

The mall security guy said that the police will come to my home in one week with some form. And He talked about court and stuff...

I'm really scared and worried about everything right now.

Is it okay to not have a lawyer? and Why do you get 2nd court date which is in june 11th eventhough u already went there?
Actually I posted my question and the title is "urgent! theft under 5000 - under 18"

Could you see my post and give me some advice?

Thank you soooo much,.

Ok, First, you tell your guardians. DO NOT wait until the police come. Second, do nothing more until the police come. In many shoplifitng cases, there is actually no prosecution or even arrest. The store security may not have even called the police, just told you that to scare you. Another point, in the US, you didn't steal anything until you actually leave the store with the merchandise. So even if you were caught trying to remove a security tag, that may not be enough.

Read the MANY threads about this. You will find the answers to your questions in them.

IF the police do come, then yes you should consult an attorney.

You will most likely get a fine and have to pay back the stores

It is OK not to have an attorney if you are going to plead guilty, but I believe a person should always have an attorney in court.

You may have several court dates , for the various processes of court.

Thanks for both of you!

So tell to guardian and wait.
Can I ask some other questions?

1. so is there any chance that the security didn't call the police and just tried to scare me?
(but the security gave me 2 sheets which indicate my right to have lawyer and the court stuff... and he made me to sign on it. So it looks sooo real to me... )

2. and if I get a court date, will that be link to another date? I mean... will I get more than one court date(if so, why?) ? Because I have my plane ticket on June 27th, I'm concerned about 2nd court date and stuff...

3. In Canada there's a big test for high school students called PROVINCIAL TEST. NO EXCUSE other than doctor's note will accepted for changing the test date.
So If police give me a court date and It's the same day as my test date, Can I ask court to chage the date?

4. I'm applying for U.S. VISA this summer. When I'm doing this, will the VISA people check my theft record in Canada though I'm under 18?? And Is there any possibility I'm not getting US VISA because of this?.

5. Lastly, Is there more possibility that they ask me to pay a fine (and pay back to store) rather than go to court?
And If I get court date, do I have to ask for divertion before they find me guilty?

THANKS AGAIN...

[QUOTE=scared and stressed]Thanks for both of you!

So tell to guardian and wait.
Can I ask some other questions?

1. Canada is a lot different than the US on minor thefts from the stores, in the US the police would have came to the store, and released you to your guardian, in Canada they basically get a report from the store and often send you a letter for you to appear at the police station to be fingerprinted and booked. and then given a court date.

2. I doubt very seriously you will have this cleared up by the first of June, you may want your guardian to contact the store and find where they sent this into ( or if they did) and have them contact the police to see if it would be possible to clear this up faster

3. yes your guardians could request a new court date

4. I don't see this interfering with any VISA, even if it showed up.

5. Normally you will have to appear in court but if you are leaving the area, an attorney may work this out for you.

1. I already asnwered that. There is a chance they didn't, but you won't know until you heare from them.

2. Generally the first court date is an arraignment. You enter your plea and depending on that plea, will determine how to proceed. But you don't want to get that far. If you are called to court, you want to ask for a diversion BEFORE your court date. This is all discussed in the many similar threads.

3. Most probably

4. Its possible, but if you do what we've advised, its unlikely this will go on your permanent record.

5. Not at this point. If they do press charges, you may have to apy a fine and restitution but that would not be in lieu of court.

You know.. My son did the same thing.. they took him into that little room to scare the hell out of him.. no he never left the store.. and yes I have to say I was beside myself in the situation.. imagine my surprise.. We all make mistakes Scared and Stressed.. I'm sure you were Scared Straight as the saying gose.. But my advice to you young lady is that you should tell your Sponsor parents.. Do not think that they will send you packing for being a teenager honey... Parents and Sponsor Parents are understanding and they will stand by you in your time of need and when your not in time of need.. I completely agree ScottGem in your situation.. Don't wait for some police officers to show up.. . as for my son.. the store did ban him for a year and said they would send a fine in the mail that never came and the police was never called.. but.. They did get there point across to him.. he never tried to steal another thing again... Though temtation is very strong sometimes it is nessessary to understand that when thefts happen in any store prices tend to go up on a whole to cover the losses.. so next time you go in and see a pretty dress and you go to buy `it honey.. you might be paying double what it was before.. Its really not worth it, is it. You know how it feels to be on the accusing end now think how it feels to be on the enflated end.

Thank you so much everybody!

Actually I was SOOOOOO worried about my parents...
What if they get shocked and diappointed at me FOREVER, what if they go against me and such... Though it takes thousands and thousands of money to give an oppurtunity for studying aboard, they send me here, hoping to offer better education and future.
It's my SECOND year aboard and I WAS a great student... English skills, GPA, friends... everything...

However, I did such a stupid thing which will be a biggest mistake in my life...
I'm really regreting right now. I will go to church tomorrow... I'll NEVER do a such thing again..

As Mrs. unique said, I will confess my STUUUPID mistake to my parents, hoping they understand it...

Ahhh... It's really hard to break the trust between my parents and me...

Anyway, thanks for all the advices!

p.s. for unique5565!
When you heard that your son tried to steal something, how did you feel? Were you completely mad at your son and disappoint at him? Do you think that my parents will.. MENTALLY abandon me?.

And... Is there anyone knows about this?

When the security guard caught me and asked me about my info(phone number, address, name, guardian's nuber, birthday), they didn't even check accurately. You know,, I probably could said some lie to them! False address, name, and phone number... (Of course, I did tell the truth)

What I'm saying is why the security guy didn't check whether I was lying or not? After I told him my name (I spelled it for him but he was having a trouble to get it correctly) he asked me for a piece of ID and I showed him my school card. There are my name and photo on the school card that I showed to him. However, actually, he didn't even see it accurately.

AND! On the form that he gave me, "Notice of Apprehension," there are some blanks for the name of accused person, date, time... etc. The security guy filled the form out and I signed at the bottom. However, he wrote my last name incorrectly.

He didn't spell my last name correctly and didn't even check about my address and such. What if I made up some information? Why he did it like this?

Is it (possibly) means that he just tried to scared me?

p.s. he gave me a 2 sheets and one of it is about banned from the area.
And on that sheet there's something says "VPD# 07-23745." The security guard said that I can ask the police about my case with the file number. And.. I think that nuber is the FILE NUMBER thingy. Is it right? If I called to police and indicate my file number, will they let me know about the process of my case?

Sorry about all the confusion and repitition. I'm being really confused and scared now..

I understand that you are scared and confused, but that doesn't means you should stop asking the same things . We weren't there. We don't know exactly what happened. We don't know what was in the mind of the security guard or the procedures of the store. So we CANNOT tell you definitively what will happen.

We have already told you what you should do. That's tell your guardians and then wait to see if the ploice call. Do NOT try to contact the police. That may only open a can of worms.

Even if the police do contact you, since this is a first offense, there is a strong likelihood that you be able to get a diversion and not have this on your permanent record. So relax! Do what we told you and then go on with your life.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scared and stressed

give me some advice...........

Today I caught at the mall... As a Theft under 5000

After school I went to the mall in downtown and went into le chateau which is a cloth store... I was by myself... When I got into there, I saw a dress which I liked for this whole symester. And that was on the sale corner.

When I pick that dress up, automatically I obsessed by desire.
The price was around 70~80 dollars, however, I only had 50 dollars.
Then I decided to get the dress by taking the plastic tag off...Stupid... Because the dress was made of some silk&chemical nilon??? stuff, the tag didn't take off easily. Then I remembered I had my cosmetic scissor in my pouch.

I put my scissor out and tried to cut the tag out... And the employeer who suspected me secretly called the security guard.

So.. I went to the private room(criminal room??) with security guard.
Then the guard asked me for my adress, phone number, and name.

Because I am an international student who lives with guardian, instead of parents, the guard asked my guardian's number too.

Then he called to the police and explained my situation.

I am 17 years old and an international student who has with no crimal record (first offence).

After talked with police, the guard released me. I banned from the mall for one year. He said that the police will come to my house( homestaying house), within 1 week, and the police will do everything. He said something about court and forms.

According to the other answers that I saw in this site, I think the form might about court date and fingerprint stuff....

Right now I am so nervous and affraid...

No one in my house knows yet....

What should I do and What the police will do to me? How long will it take to police to come to my house?
Will I go to court? Do I have to find my lawyer(I read other posts and everybody was talking about a lawyer thingy ...)? Do I have to pay charge or go to jail ?? Will the police come without noticing to me (I wrote my cell number there)?Do I have to tell to my guardian or my parents before they get shock by the police? Will the police report to my school? HELP ME....I'm sooo maseed up ...................

I'm really regreting my falut..........

This is my case:
International student living in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Leaving Canada on June 27th (moving to USA), maybe never comeback again after June 27th
17 years old female (Under 18!)
First offense
It says "theft under 5000, mistheft" on the brief form that the guard wrote

---

Don't get scared the first thing you do is explain it to the people that are with u 2nd stop you don't need a lawyer its only a 70 dollar dress you might get a bad record and get banned yes but it might not even go 2 court it will be sorted with the police the police might give you warning not 2 do it again you explain your situation to the cops they might 4give you and be remorsefull in front of them OK no need in getting scared