Convenience store owners push for tougher shoplifting law

Kiley Russell

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 8:24 a.m.

CARSON CITY - A bill making it easier for retailers to nab shoplifters was softened and approved by an Assembly panel despite the protests of convenience store owners.

AB85 would let clerks stop people who stuff merchandise into their pockets or under their coats without having to wait until the thieves walk out the door.

Before it was amended Monday, the bill also would have increased the penalty for a third shoplifting offense to a minimum one year in prison and a fine up to $5,000.

But Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, said that would inappropriately raise shoplifting to the level of forgery and arson.

Store owners complained that busting shoplifters isn't a high priority for police - and in any case, no arrest is made until someone leaves the store with stolen items.

"My store is the reason AB85 is up in front of you today," Las Vegas 7-Eleven owner Joanie Hill said.

Hill explained that she confronted a man had stuffed frozen burritos into his pockets, and with help from an off-duty officer held the man inside her store until police arrived.

"When all was said and done, the responding officer said I couldn't do anything because (the suspect) never left the store," Hill said.

The bill was sent to the Assembly floor despite concerns from some committee members that it might be too broad.

"If I have a Big Gulp in one hand and a pack of bubble gum in the other and then put a bag of chips under my arm, under my coat, would the merchant have reason to believe that the chips were taken wrongfully?" asked Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas.

Members of the Southern Nevada Franchise Store Association pushed unsuccessfully for the increased penalties in the initial version of the bill.

"I have seen a dramatic increase in shoplifting, but many retailers fail to press charges so the perpetrators know nothing will happen to them and will continue to steal," association member Charles Harrington told the committee.