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    Guard fired after nabbing child who ate from box

    EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A grocery store security guard was fired after he told the father of a 4-year-old girl that she would face criminal charges for eating from a dried fruit package, a TV station reported.

    The child's mother, Alissa Jones, said the father wasn't looking when the girl grabbed the package, ate a few pieces of fruit then returned it to a shelf at a Safeway store in Everett, Wash., KOMO reported Wednesday.

    Safeway previously faced widespread criticism when a Honolulu couple were arrested over stolen sandwiches and had their 2-year-old daughter taken from them briefly by state officials.

    In Washington, the guard took the 4-year-old and her dad to a room and said the girl would face charges and be banned from the chain, Jones said, adding the guard had the girl sign a paper acknowledging she wasn't allowed to enter any Safeway stores.

    The company said it was "appalled" by the guard's actions and dismissed him. Store officials have apologized to the girl's parents, Safeway spokesperson Cherie Myers said.

    "Our policies on shoplifting are intended to protect our customers, but built on common sense. And everyone understands what common sense is," Myers said.

    The name of the guard was not immediately available.

    The woman involved in the Honolulu incident, Nicole Leszczynski, was 30 weeks pregnant at the time. Last month, she and her husband forgot to pay for two sandwiches that together cost $5. They were handcuffed and searched, and later released on $50 bail each.

    The company decided not to press charges, apologized and said then it would re-examine its policies.

    ___

    Information from: KOMO-AM, http://www.komoradio.com/

     
    • Robert  •  Seoul, South Korea  •  6 mths ago
      did she "sign" it in pen or crayon?
      • livewire 6 mths ago
        finger paint!
      • DIOSA69N4 6 mths ago
        Im curious too!
      • ladyfirstandalways 6 mths ago
        Having a 4 year old sign anything...seriously!??? My question is why would the father allow it. I personally would have acted a fool in that store if they had tried that with me.
    • James  •  San Francisco, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Bit of an overkill - bring the matter to the father's attention, and have him pay for the item in question - case closed.
    • Sierra  •  6 mths ago
      When are people going to develope common sense?
      • jerry s 6 mths ago
        Common sense is politically incorrect. Put a badge or uniform on a person with an IQ of 60 or less and you have created an SS storm trooper.
      • NotAuthorized 6 mths ago
        They will when you learn--hhahahhahhahaha--how to spell "develop"...
      • Ginger 6 mths ago
        He has a Supervisory position waiting for him at the TSA
    • T  •  6 mths ago
      Common sense left America long ago and decided comming back was a waste of time.
      • James 6 mths ago
        Common sense left the planet a long time ago and decided coming back was a waste of time. Fixed.
    • HARLIE  •  Austin, United States  •  6 mths ago
      She's 4 years old! Can she even sign her name, much less understand what she's signing?
      • A Troll 6 mths ago
        At 4 she can't be held accountable for signing any form of contract. Gotta be 18 for that.

        Here's your sign... (to the overzealous wannabe cop)
      • Canadarocks 6 mths ago
        LOL - the part about having the kid 'sign' that she understood she was banned from Safeway Stores - PRICELESS....
      • Bill 6 mths ago
        what we have here is a "failure to communicate"...lmao....it sounds as if his IQ was way below hers....at least she had the "sense" to sign it...unlike the guard who wrote it out.....
    • Political Zombie  •  6 mths ago
      So far, the only part of this article that I could find to be incorrect was the following statement: "everyone understands what common sense is".
    • WARREN  •  Montgomery, United States  •  6 mths ago
      This is what happens when you have zero tolerance policies to hide behind so that no one has to THINK anymore.

      Obviously the little girl is not a wannabe Bonnie Parker. This whole ugly incident could have been avoided by the manager approaching the father and talking to him.
    • Perry  •  Atlanta, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I'm both a veteran security officer and uncle to six, so know how children that age are, and that it certainly wasn't shoplifting. She's 4 for chrissake; not old enough to understand what stealing even is; threatening a child that young with arrest and telling her she could never shop in a Safeway again was foolish. If I were the security supervisor (or store manager), wouldn't want a guard that clueless and tactless representing my company (or store). On the other hand, if I were the parent (or uncle), would offer to pay for the package of dried fruit. That's how my parents taught me....that I was responsible for what children in my care did, so would have tried to do the right thing.
    • fidotrader  •  Miami, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Does this mean if Safeway over charges you .....You can have the cashier arrested and banned from the store?
    • Dragonhank  •  Morovis, United States  •  6 mths ago
      This sounds to me that this security guard probably thought he was cop who collared a criminal in the act. And his head was filled with such pride that he was doing the right thing. The fault here goes to the supermarket that hired this turd, don't they interview the person who fills this position before they hire? SNAFU !!!
    • Jason  •  Bangkok, Thailand  •  6 mths ago
      These are the kind of douches we have in our law enforcement now. And people wonder why no one has any respect for them.
    • Magiting  •  5 mths ago
      ..."everyone understands what common sense is", common sense is something that is not very common nowadays.
    • Suicidemedic  •  5 mths ago
      Pff, they're union workers, they don't have common sense.
    • Hsc  •  Irvine, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I bet the security guard felt really good about himself for nabbing such a high-risk "criminal" and "threat" to society. Collaring a 4yo kid? Hey, man, use your common sense and help the store make a sale. Just tell the parent what happened and make sure it gets rung up on the register. Make more sense, maybe?
    • David  •  Bandon, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Considering the number of times I've found overcharges on my receipt, Safeway certainly has no room to get wired up about theft.
    • RVN Vet  •  6 mths ago
      Hey, no problem. Now he can get a job with the TSA. Way over qualified!
    • m  •  6 mths ago
      What kind of 4-year old eats dried fruit instead of candy? A goldarn socialist! It's Obama's fault!
    • Fred  •  Willcox, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Another weird story from Everett. What is going on up there?
    • shnitzel  •  Boston, United States  •  6 mths ago
      "Our policies on shoplifting are intended to protect our customers, but built on common sense. And everyone understands what common sense is,"

      everyone except the security guard
    • Raven  •  Tipp City, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Forgot to pay AFTER they were discovered. Otherwise, they would have gotten away with it. Thieves plain and simple.
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