Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The store can file criminal charges, whether you pay the 'fine' to them or not. You have a 'prior' to worry about if they do file. Hire an attorney to try to negotiate a civil compromise agreement that will guarantee they won't file charges. They can't offer that, but your attorney can. If serious about hiring counsel to help, feel free to contact me.

The store can't impose a "fine" - they will be sending you a "civil demand" letter. Under the Penal Code, stores can make a demand of up to $500 from people caught shoplifting. If you pay, it means they won't sue you in small claims. Guess what - they never sue anyway. I have yet to hear of anybody being sued for not paying their outrageous demand letters.

If you don't pay, it doesn't mean criminal charges will be filed. If the police were not involved on the day you were caught, the odds are overwhelming that there will be no criminal charges filed, since there was no police report.

A civil compromise would only work in a situation where charges had been filed and you were trying to work things out to get a dismissal. Contacting them to settle so they won't "file charges" won't do a bit of good. They can't "file charges" - only the prosecuting agency in your jurisdiction can.