Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Texas

Wrongly accused of shoplifting & detained by police

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I was wrongly accused of shoplifting by a manager of a Dollar General. She called 911 on me and almost got me arrested! My husband and I had exchanged a can of spray paint and bought some cards.We left the DG we went to WalMart.When we left the Wal Mart a Police Officer pulled me over and I pulled into that same DG store parking lot. The police officer told us to �get up on the sidewalk� and asked �for identification� from both my husband and myself. I asked the Police Officer why we were being questioned and he replied that we were �suspected of shoplifting from this Dollar General store.� They even sent a Police Officer to my HOUSE looking for us! We explained everything to the police and the mgr. and they let us go.

When I was listening to the Police officer talk to the manager I heard him say '' You can't do that, you can get us sued!'' The manager told me it was a ''case of mistaken identity''. She said the mgr. of another store called her and gave her a desc. of a shoplifter that matched me. I called that other store and I found out the suspect was the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of me. I have been in such turmoil ever since, I've been scared for no reason, trembling & depressed.


Asked on 7/25/06, 12:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James Grissom Law Office of James P. Grissom

Re: Wrongly accused of shoplifting & detained by police

You certainly have a classic textbook case of false arrest, but you need to prove your claims of turmoil, trembling and depression. It sounds like you were detained a few minutes, more or less; and while you have a legal claim, I doubt that it is of sufficient value to file a lawsuit.

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Answered on 7/25/06, 1:11 pm


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