Canada – An elderly woman stopped a shoplifter from leaving a Campbell River Walmart over the weekend.
A man named Darrel Johansen caught the would-be shoplifter trying to exit Walmart with a cart full of merchandise without paying.
“Are you going to pay for that?” the man who uploaded the video to his Facebook asked the shoplifter.
“Yeah” the masked man replied as he proceeded to exit Walmart without paying.
An elderly woman who just happened to be leaving Walmart at the exact same moment blocked the shoplifter, ripped his mask off and gave him a verbal beatdown.
“I spotted this guy within five seconds of entering the store and knew he was about to run and this is the result. Whoever that lady is that ripped his mask off, I’ll take you as my partner in crime fighting anytime. Lol,” witness Darrel Johansen said in a Facebook caption.
Mr. Johansen said he called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but he was told they couldn’t do anything unless Walmart reported the incident.
“I called the nonemergency RCMP line and reported the incident but I was told that unless Walmart calls to file a claim that nothing would be done.” he said.
CHEK News reported:
A video posted to Facebook shows two customers stepping in and confronting a man who is allegedly shoplifting a shopping cart full of items.
Cst. Maury Tyre with the Campbell River RCMP says there is quite a bit of frustration in the community about theft, but people should not step in to prevent shoplifting.
“It’s not something that we can really recommend doing, because there have been some incidents that have definitely escalated to severe violence in the community,” Maury said.
“Some of the individuals that are stealing and taking things, taking carts full, commonly carried carry knives or bear spray, and when people do take matters into their own hands, they have to understand that there is an inherent risk and even sometimes liability when they do so.”
Sean Smith, a Campbell River security expert says this Walmart is a frequent target for theft.
“They’ll just take an armload into a bag, and just walk out the door with it,” Smith said.
He says he’s not surprised that people stood up to the alleged shoplifter.
“She heard what was going on, she saw what was going on, and she had enough,” Smith said. “She did what everyone else wanted to do, and she’s very, very popular right now.”
VIDEO (language warning):
According to Canadian media, a security guard was stabbed at this same Walmart while trying to stop a shoplifter from leaving the store.