Think it's just a case of big in a little pond.

The Wal-Mart security guard (because that's what the police officer was at that point) wanted to feel awesome and prove he was awesome so this poor guy gets picked on.

I've been having to go through red tape for the last 3 weeks so I know what it's like with people who follow rules and guidelines without using common sense.

I want his head, burn him alive... that will show to all the heathens...

ok now i am never going to trust police people without a doubt. first i will check my pockets if i didn't forget to pay for chewing gumor a bar of peppermint! then i will ask and beg that they do not feel like arresting me :D (and by the way, 4 dollars is a lot of money somewhere else. let him donate 4 dollars and pay for the pop!

Follow up on the story. Apparently, the "victim" lied and actually stole.

Now, why the hell did he steal $4 and paid up the rest in the first place?

source consumerist

Surveillance Tape Shows Man Who "Forgot" Case Of Soda Is A Thief And A Liar!

Our apologies to the Brooklyn, Ohio police department. New security camera footage released by the Brooklyn police department shows that the man who claimed he "forgot" the case of pop under his shopping cart actually grabbed it on his way out of the store! Now the man admits that he lied to reporters.

Brooklyn police gave NewsChannel5 surveillance video of Sturgis at the Giant Eagle the day of his arrest.

Police said Sturgis is shown with his stepson, who was bagging the groceries at the checkout line.

But the video shows nothing beneath the cart. Sturgis paid for the groceries in the cart, but police said as he left the store, he stopped at the pop display in the vestibule, loading his cart with Pepsi.

He then left without paying for the new additions to his cart, police said.

Brooklyn Chief Mark Tenaglia said that security video shows Sturgis using a self-checkout with no items on the bottom of his cart.

Tenaglia said a second video camera shows Sturgis loading six 12-packs of Pepsi into his cart before he exited the store. The total value of the soda was $21.54 with tax.

Sturgis was arrested and charged with petty theft.

He told NewsChannel5, "It was a total lie. I did try to steal the Pepsi at Giant Eagle." Sturgis also said that he plans to plead guilty at his arraignment.

Oh, shoplifter guy. Why did you lie to the media? The truth will always come out. The Consumerist apologizes to the Brooklyn, Ohio police department for teasing them and hopes we can remain friends. Congratulations on preventing pop theft in your area.

Surveillance Shows Man Taking Pop After Store Check-Out [NewsChannel5]

UPDATE: Consumerist has sent the following email to the Brooklyn, Ohio police department.

Dear Chief Tenaglia,

We picked up the story about the pop thief and thought it had been more thoroughly vetted by the news station that sent it to us. In retrospect, I feel my teasing was pretty mean and I hope the Brooklyn police department will accept my apology.

Stopping crime is awesome. Keep up the good work.

-Meg

Thats really funny.

haha, bloopers.
I would sue. =P

Peter: damn it meg!

Wow... that was really impressive. Thanks for posting the follow up on that, cause even I had been taken in by the whole thing. I'm pretty sure that's what the soda stealer had been counting on too. Go ahead and book him and kudos to the cop who did it.

Kudos also go to the consumerist for doing a full blurb about the error and giving both a direct and public apology for it. Many newspapers only have a little page in the back for retractions, even if the news they were retracting had been front page.