Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft Questions

[GD5869]

I work at a large retailer and was recently taken to the back room to talk to a company loss prevention employee he asked me if had any idea why I would be there and if there was anything wrong i wanted to admit doing (which i'm sure is standard procedure to get someone to admit something) I told him I had no Idea why I am back there he told me to think very hard and that he knew what i did and had proof and to think very hard to help myself out.. again I said there was nothing I know of that i did that would be back there for.. assuring him several times that i have no idea what he was getting at, he brought up the name of a customer, i'll call him "Joe" he asked me if I recall Joe helping Joe out last week and i said yes and he told me to tell him about it. so i told him that I had pulled some items, (window blinds) for Joe and brought them up to the desk I told him i then put them on an invoice and had him pay for them, which is what i did and is the correct way to do it. He then asked me if i remember any other items that Joe might have had that day and i said no i thought really hard if there was anything else and i couldn't think of anything. He then asked me about another item (a drill). I said yes i forgot about that and that he did have a drill. what happend is when Joe first came in the store was he had brought in a defective drill that was under warranty and I walked him down to the service desk at the other end of the store did a warranty even exchange per store procedure and then after that we walked back to the other end of the store and did the transaction for the blinds. The Lp officer then left the room and came back and told me that checked out as i described it to him.. i assume he thought I gave it to the customer and didn't have him pay not knowing it was an exchange that took place at the other end of the building. after that he continued to ask me if there was anything else i did that i wanted to admit, like had i stolen anything from the store or given customers free merch or taken tips from customers and i said no i have never done anything intentionally that i could possible lose my job for. He said ok and had me fill out a statement as to what we talked about that day. He told me i could go back to work but that it was an ongoing investigation. My concern is now that he is now trying to look for something to pin on me and I suppose its possible that I may have missed ringing up an item in a customers cart or something, nothing that i'm aware of but it is possible since i work in a busy store and do many transactions a day. I just don't want to be accused of giving someone something . I can understand losing my job if he were to see that I missed ringing something up if it was purely accidental because it is still loss.. but i don't want to be accused of giving a customer free merchandise when that is something I'd never do and have never done. this happend a few days ago and i haven't heard anything else.. but would you recommend talking to a lawyer just in case or just wait and see ? I know for a fact i didn't do anything illegal but i can see them trying to make something i did accidentally look like i was giving a customer somethng.

 

[thelawjournal]

You can certainly talk to a Lawyer if you wish but he is likely to tell you there is nothing he can do until your accussed. If at all. Its LP job to investigate any potential theft. If they feel you "might" be stealing they could spend extra time on you and all your transactions. If a theft is observed intentional or not its theft. Busy or not there should be no missed transactions, unapproved discounts etc. All are actionable under the law. Provong your intent will not remove the crime. Right now its a waiting game if you have done nothing wrong then your fine

 

[thelawjournal]

On side notes. The line of questioning did not seem normnal to me it seemed like LP was on fishing expedition. In any investigation I was ever involved in I researched all past transactions of internals before calling in subject. I could then question subject on all questionable actions. I assume this LP did not that. Meaning he has already looked at your past transactions and found nothing outside of the drill issue