Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

You can be charged unless the limitations period has expired. The law does not require an arrest before a suspect can be prosecuted.

Your prospective employer should not be able to find out what's in the police reports. However, if you are formally charged, that information will be publicly available.

It sounds like you are guilty of one or more crimes. Switching price tags is enough, even if you leave without the items. You should get a lawyer ASAP. In the meantime, do not discuss your case with anyone except attorneys you consider hiring. Hopefully you haven't already said anything that will hurt you later.

Good luck.

Your present job that you are applying for probably won't find out, but the next one sure will. You could be charged with attempted theft and possibly attempted burglary. Yours is the type of case where getting a lawyer on board will really help -- I am familiar with the judges and DAs here in Westminster, I'd be glad to talk to you about your options. Just don't wait until the last minute, it is very very important that the lawyer you hire is available to accompany you on your -first court date-.

Yes, you 'can' be arrested. You are now unpleasantly surprised to find that the store has filed criminal charges against you. That is the policy of most businesses now, full prosecution of all offenders, to try to deter such thefts in future. You should hire an attorney to handle this. First he can TRY to negotiate a �civil compromise� that will get the criminal charges dropped. He can also defend the charges already brought, if the store won�t drop them. If serious about doing this, feel free to contact me. You will now have an arrest on your 'permanent' record. If convicted, that will be there as well. Yes, convictions will affect your employability.