Legal Question in Consumer Law in Michigan

My friend and I were shopping at the Salvation Army in Midland, MI. While checking out we were approached by two employees who told us we had to wait there. One employee called the local police and the other took us over by the front doors (25 feet from the cash register and line of customers). She then locked the door and would not tell us why we were being held when asked. Finally the police arrived and the ladies began pointing fingers saying they had 6 witnesses to my friend and I stealing 4 shirts and a pair of pants. We then showed the police that we had nothing up our shirts and down our pants. The workers realized this and changed their story to us putting on the clothes in the store. After proving that to be false we were taken outside for about 10-15 minutes and questioned some more. Finally one officer came out and said the ladies admitted they didn't see anything or have any witnesses but they just suspected. They told us we could never come back to the store or we'd be arrested for trespassing even after we were let go because it's obvious we were innocent.


Asked on 1/01/10, 9:49 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Audra Arndt Audra A. Arndt & Associates, PLLC

Your story doesn't make sense. Yes, store employees can ask you to remain in the store for questionning or while they are waiting for police, such as when they feel a crime has occurred. However, they do not have the right to lock the doors or force you into a room, as that is false imprisonment. I don't see why store employees would go through all the hassle of detaining you (while possibly causing a scene or risking injury), calling the police, go through questioning, and then say "oh we were wrong, my bad, you can go now." What may have happened is that the police told them they were WRONG to lock you in the store and that they should just let you go, regardless of guilt or not, to avoid your retaliation of charges of false imprisonment. Same thing as if a store employee shoved you while trying to detain you - even if you were guilty, they are better off letting you go, instead of facing assault charges. Or, the police told the store employees that there wasn't enough evidence to press charges against you, so the best option at that point was to let you go and instruct you not to return to the store.

However, telling you not to return to the store if you were innocent is inappropriate. An officer wouldn't say that unless there was reason to believe you may have committed a crime or even attempted to shoplift. If you truly did nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, then feel free to shop there. You can't be arrested for trespassing or anything else at a store when you did nothing wrong. While store owners and restaurant owners do have the right to "ban" a person from their premises, there is a reason for it: suspicious or unruly activity, such as a bar fight, etc. If this didn't happen in your situation, then the store has no justification for refusing you entry into their store.

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Answered on 1/09/10, 7:48 pm


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