Pregnant mom arrested at Safeway for $5 sandwich speaks out

November 1st, 2011 by Nicholas Whittaker | Permalink

Breaking News: Safeway guard interrogates 4 year-old.

A mom in Honolulu and her husband were taken to jail and their young daughter was taken into custody after neglecting to pay for two chicken salad sandwiches late last week.

“It was the most ridiculous chain of events that happened,” a sobbing Nicole Leszczynski told reporters. “It’s still hard to believe what happened.”

Screenshot via KHON.

After relocating to downtown Honolulu from California two weeks ago, the couple got lost searching for a grocery store. They finally made it to a Safeway where the the former Air Force staff sergeant and her husband ate sandwiches while they shopped. ”We walked a long way to the grocery store and I was feeling faint, dizzy, like I needed to eat something so we decided to pick up some sandwiches and eat them while we were shopping,” Leszczynski told Hawaii’s KHON.

They saved the wrappers and proceeded to the checkout with about $50 worth of other items. The wrappers, however, were missed and the family was confronted by security as they left the store.

“When the security guard questioned us, I was really embarrassed, I was horrified,” she said. They followed the guard upstairs, expecting to pay for the sandwiches and get a warning.

“I asked to talk to a manager and he said it was against their policy to pay for items that left the store,” she said. “The security guard said we were being charged with shoplifting.”

When the police arrived, four hours later, the Leszczynski’s were read their rights and Child Protective Services took 2-year old Zofia away.

“I didn’t want Zofia to be scared because she’s never spent a night away from us. She didn’t have her stuffed animal. She didn’t have her toothbrush.” Leszczynski tried to maintain her composure as young Zofia was escorted away, but the moment her daughter was gone, “I got completely hysterical. I went to the bathroom and I threw up.”

After being booked, the couple was released on $100 bail. They were taken back to Safeway to collect their grocieries and walked home.

Of the night without their daughter, the distraught mom recalled, “We basically stared at each other all night. We woke up at the crack of dawn and called.” Zofia was allowed to come home after 18-hours.

Susan Houghton, a spokeswoman for Safeway, explained, ”It was never our intent to separate a mother from her child. That was a very unfortunate consequence to this situation. We understand the outrage. We are concerned about how this was handled.” She went on to say that Safeway will be reviewing video footage and the police report to determine if charges will be upheld.

Later, Safeway released another statement, “It appears we may not have handled this matter in the best possible way and we are taking the situation seriously.”

According to Leszczynski, the ordeal was ”so horrifying, it seemed to escalate and no one could say, ‘this is too much.’”

Breaking News: Safeway issues apology and drops charges

http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-mom-says-sandwich-arrest-horrifying-214407004.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/29/hawaii-couples-daughter-taken-away-for-18-hours-over-alleged-sandwich-theft/

Filed under: News & Politics, Parenting

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http://www.imperfectparent.com Jason

If I was not an American citizen, and I was watching all the horrifying acts committed American authorities and Department of Defense is doing in this world. I would say its tandem amount to communism in a third world country with no control over there actions, by serving up cruel and unusual punishment, and in some cases just plane at murder. The U.S. dons’t even follow their own rules. Like the 8th amendment that prohibits the federal government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. government has been breaking this amendment ever since it was put in place in the English Bill of Rights 1689. Now is the time to take a stand for our rights and bring all the cases where the government has imposed cruel and unusual punishment on its own people, and put a stop to this madness.
Dave

Hey, at least we still allow 10-time DUI drivers to remain free, and often grant them “hardship” licenses so they can drive to and from work.
Azhar

Nice, Safeway.

Since the company policy on shoplifting is so strict that an obviously honest mistake can result in incarceration for a family, I guess then it would be fair to have the store manager and cashier hauled away in handcuffs for theft whenever prices ring up higher at their registers than what is marked at the shelves, right?
http://www.modestmiddles.com Amy M

As a mom 28 weeks pregnant with baby #6, I am appalled at Safeway’s handling of this situation! I agree that shoplifting is a serious crime, but this was #1 unintentional and #2 could have been handled by letting the parents pay for the sandwiches! I can’t believe that people (like the Safeway management in this case) are so unable to think logically and simply obey procedures and rules without using logic! I mean a robot/computer could have made a better decision! The topper for me is the separation that occurred between the parents and the 2 yo little girl. It is simply unacceptable. I run a business that makes breastfeeding undershirts, called Modest Middles Nursing Tank Tops and see daily the blogs/comments of nursing moms and pregnant moms with young toddlers who have much on their plates. It’s easy to see this situation (giving your child a snack to keep her happy in the store with the plan to pay for it at the register)happening to anyone of us on any given day! In fact, I opened a bag of crackers to keep my 18 month old busy in the grocery store just yesterday. Of course I paid for them at the check out, but could easily see how the parent accidentally overlooked the wrapper. Safeway owes this family a huge apology!
Justin

Wow, even if they had blatantly stolen the sandwiches rather than what sounds like a very simple honest mistake, the cops shouldnt be called. Is this what it has come to, a person eats a sandwich and accidently walks out with it and the cops are called and CPS as well??? Did these people look like meth heads? Rules are rules but come on this is ridiculous. Safeway, and all its subsidiaries are already some of the biggest rip offs in the grocery market with questionable quality in their meat, deli and produce departments. Just another example of bad management putting idiots in charge of security and making an environment where the employees are encouraged not to think for themselves but to blindly follow rules. D
http://www.minortopics.com Jessica King

While I agree that this was handled poorly and the punishment in no way fit the crime, they did in fact — steal. You can’t consume food and then conveniently just forget to hand the clerk the wrapper. I wouldn’t be surprised if they noticed the clerk forgot to ring up the sandwiches and said nothing. Heck, do you know how many ‘good’ people do that type of stuff all the time?

You can’t just eat something and forget to pay for it. That is wrong and it’s illegal. Security should have made them pay for the sandwiches and then taken their picture, just to scare ‘em a little and think twice about doing it again and let them go.
Sam101

Maybe they ripped off this store before in the same manner, but this time the store said no.

They hid the wrappers under the baby seat. They paid for some or most of their groceries with WIC. These people can’t even afford food for themselves and their one child, but they’re having another one?
Mel Holden

I’ve never walked out of a store without paying for something.
I have no problem with how this was handled, even IF it was a mistake, mistakes like this end up costing the rest of us in higher grocery costs.

If they didn’t have a kid and another on the way we’d not be hearing about this. So if I as a single person without any children, had done the same thing, I’d have been arrested and I’d have accepted responsibility.

They went back to get their groceries, then went home and didn’t try to get their daughter back til the next morning!!!! Why didn’t they, the first chance they had, start trying to get their daughter back?

Some people are seriously tooooo stupid to breed!
Mary Berry

If all somebody had to do when they walked out of a store without paying for something is, if caught, pay for it, what a great deal for dishonest folk!

Technically, they stole it. I can see why Safeway has a policy that people can’t just pay for it IF caught.

Can you imagine working at Safeway, in say management or security, knowing how much gets stolen/lost? I’m guessing it’s only a small percentage of times thieves get caught, so yeah hit em hard when they’re caught

Can’t do the time, then don’t do the crime!
suzie q

APPALLING! Safeway needs to be taught a lesson, but of course it won’t be…
Vegas June

Only reason this is a story is because they are white and she was pregnant. They stole the sandwiches period. If your a pregnant woman carry energy bars with you at all times. You can’t walk into a grocery store and just start eating food. If they were that hungry they should have stop at mcdonalds before they entered the store. Store policy says they proscute to the fullest extent of the law. Did they think it was joke? Those people got what they deserved. You are not above the law people get over yourself.
bkh

it makes me wonder if the store manager was racial profiling this parents because they were white.. i keep hearing in hawaii there are people who discriminate if you are white.. maybe it was the case instead of letting them pay for the $5 sandwich.. just a thought..
mem02f

Im appalled at most of these replies. It was a 2.50 sandwich.

Sam youre clearly an idiot as the article specified that the couple was new to the area and had never been there before. And what does it matter if they were on WIC or not?

Mel Holden, Thank god there are upstanding citizens like you to lower all of our grocery bills. Obviously you and Sam should get together and help eachother read. She couldnt get her child until the Child Services office opened then next morning. And the cop dropped them back off at the store AS STATED IN THE ARTICLE because they did not have transportation. Youre right, stupid people should not breed.

And Mary Berry, if youre so strung out at your, what im sure is extrememly challanging job, as a Safeway grocery store manager that you feel the need to press charges against a pregnant woman and her husband then maybe its time to think about a career change.

Lets just bypass the fact that this man sacrifices everyday to serve our country and that if his family really is on WIC thats a much bigger issue!!!!

What a bunch of hateful lynch mobbers! Gag
Sweetie

This couple needs to cross the bridge and get over it. They want to point blame, well it wouldn’t have happened if they had just paid for the sandwiches to begin with. They consumed the sandwiches while it was still Safeway property, walked out the door without payment… yup, that fits the description of theft. If she placed the wrappers in the cart so that remember to pay for it, how do you forget to pay for it still. Rules, policies and procedures are there for a reason. Without it we would just live in a state of chaos. Just move forward and stop crying about it. LESSON LEARNED!!!
waggy

wow. EVEN if they did mean to pay for (comon i bet 90% of shopelifters claim that they ment to pay for it) how is this safeways fault?

they did not force her to try to steal the sandwich. they did not make her forget it (hahah yeah right). they did what the should have and called the police.

I do think the police should have just given them a ticket to appear in court and been done with it. they did go a little overboard.
John

Those that cannot see how Safeway is at fault must be sociopathic robots with a pea-sized brain. Believe it or not, intent plays a huge role in criminal justice (it’s the difference between first degree murder and manslaughter in extreme cases). Safeway admits that they mishandled the situation, so I rest my case with that.
Rich B

as a father of a newborn and the husband of a wife who is absent minded, I can tell you there were numerous times when my then pregnant wife would grab something to drink or snack on as soon as we walked into the store and then forget to ring them in when we’re in a rush to checkout because the exertion of walking through the store made her sick.

a buck here, a buck there, it happened. you debate whether we’re thieves or not but I know we never knowingly stole those items.

you can then debate that when we got home and realized that we should’ve gone back to pay but for me, the cost of gas and my time wasted for that dollar drink or candy bar wasn’t worth it.

I’m appalled they (safeway, cops, cps) were so heavy-handed and that their child would be taken from them for so small a (crime?)(mistake?). did they have to be locked up while waiting to post bond? she couldn’t have sat, with child, in an interrogation room?

we no longer live in America I’m afraid.
Kayla

I think these people got what they deserved. However, I do feel sorry for the child, having such idiots for parents. You don’t take food in the store and eat it before paying for it – duh! That is something I have never done and would never do. Were they so starved that they were going to die if they had to wait a few minutes until they were outside the store to eat the sandwich? I doubt it. If they couldn’t even remember to at least pay for it at checkout then it sounds like this is something these people do habitually so I think they finally got what was coming to them. Good for Safeway!
http://www.minortopics.com Jessica King

Rich B, your wife’s absent-mindedness is no excuse to steal. Is that what you’re going to teach your kids? That if you’re flakey, you have the right to break the law??

“A buck, a buck there…” adds up. It’s costs all consumers.

What makes you so entitled that you and your wife think nothing of stealing while marginalizing criminal behavior?
D Park

I can’t believe the media has actually reported only one side of this story. They have forced Safeway to drop charges in this case. The amount of money lost each quarter due to theft in grocery stores is phenomenal and the much of it is due to people consuming food while shopping and “forgetting” to pay. You do not have the right to eat groceries while you shop if you have not paid for them. And what kind of example are people setting when they do so in front of their children. That is simply bad parenting. The fault here lies solely with the parents, not with Safeway, or the legal system. If you break the law, be prepared to take the consequences.
Linda C

Store was in wrong, period.
Ask them to pay for sandwiches.
Maybe police give fine.
But, to haul off to jail and take way a 2 year old child.
The crime doesn’t fit punishment.
I can see being in new area walking. I’d be hungry too.
It would be different if they were trying to steal tvs, etc and obviously had intent to steal.
If store having problem with shoplifting then they have a problem. If security guard visible, signs for shoplifting visible, it would be really stupid for someone to shoplift.
Even on cops, they get parties together and work it out without always hauling someone to jail.

Is someone trying to play hawaii 50?
Mrs Souviens

I also think a lot of unneccessary energy is going into this event. I understand pregnancy brain and all yet what were they thinking??? Linda C, stealing is stealing whether it was a candy bar or TV. I dont see why you feel its lesser of a deal that they took a sandwich. Intent is intent. We will never know what really happened as we werent there. I will still shop at Safeway.
Margaret

I was overcharged in Safeway multiple times, and I don’t remember ever calling the police. I usually believe that the cashier made a mistake. Now I know that if the cashier scanned something twice, for example, and I was not stopped on my way out, I can call the police and the cashier will be handcuffed.
Alicia

Now I know why America is a police state. Idiots like D Park, Jessica King, Kayla et. al. are some of the stupidest people on the planet if they think these “thugs” were really trying to steal a $5 sandwich when they were buying $50 worth of other stuff. Do you worship authority of any kind? I hope morons like you don’t breed.
Eliz

Stand up and bloody boycott Safeway. Fancy putting a toddler through that. Bastards.
Tsquared80

I think having a child hauled away by Protective Services is a little over-the-top for the crime committed, but the law was created for a reason. I know this will sound quite mean, but I think it’s horrible to just walk into a store and start eating the food in there without first paying for it. Both parents did it in front of their child, so what kind of message does that send? If they were truly hungry, then get the sandwiches, pay for them, then shop. They remembered to save the wrappers, but then forgot to pay for them? Doesn’t make 100% sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if the story is being twisted a little to sympathize more with the parents, and the store can only back down else they lose more customers.
Rich B

Jessica: As a business owner, I FULLY understand there are a lot of frivolous circumstances (some in your control, some out of your control)that decrease the bottom line and some customers (jobs) cost less to serve than others.

As far as I’m concerned, that was the added cost for the grocery store to do business with us. If they didn’t like it (after catching us) then they have the right to tell us not to come back. Our family of 2.5 consumes about $400-$600 a month in groceries … during her pregnancy we prolly “stole” about $5 a month on average so for the month we were $5 less profitable than the same couple who didn’t forget to pay for everything.

Personally I think INTENT is the important operative that most of the hard nosed fanatics are missing. Otherwise the act of using someone else’s value card for discounts when you’ve forgotten yours is theft too. And how many times have you left something behind and never went back for it? Did the store track you down to make sure they didn’t steal from you? No, they reshelved it to sell again!

Business is a give and take, just like any other relationship.
http://www.minortopics.com Jessica King

Rich B, retail is not set up to be a “give and take”. Because you and your wife feel entitled to steal, the retailers pass that cost onto honest people who obey the law.

Plus, you don’t know this woman’s intentions. There’s no way anybody does. She may have hid the wrapper knowing the clerk wouldn’t find it, thinking, well maybe I can get a free meal. There’s no way to know intent.

If somebody steals a car because they want to give it to a homeless person or an orphanage, is it not a crime anymore?

You should be ashamed of yourself, especially as a parent. Your sense of entitlement is staggering. I hope your kids have someone in their lives who are better role models than the ones raising them who teach, by example, that it’s okay to commit theft so long as they feel justified. After all, the world owes them, right? No point in living honestly when you can steal from others.

I’m offended by this attitude. It’s just so scummy.
Margaret

Jessica King,
why are you so aggressive to Rich? He never stated he feels entitled to steal, only that it is possible to forget to pay for something.
Outrageous things like this story happen because people like you work in Safeway. I hope your kids will have a better role model in life, somebody smarter and more tolerant.
Rich B

I’m sorry but your example of car theft is not relevant. The nature of the theft that you cite is different from the actual as is the (implied) intent. I’m afraid your intellectual capability might not be complex enough to comprehend what’s going on.

Simple prairie folk who live tucked away in a black and white world have no problem slamming the book at this couple. And yes, the law is the law but I ask you, do you treat someone who stole a car the same as this couple who (inadvertantly?) stole a sandwich? Obviously the courts don’t because the couple’s bond was $50ea. A car thief’s bond is a lot higher because the nature of car theft (regardless) is criminal.

You can’t complacently “steal” a car .. you have to willfully do it. A sandwich is easy to forget about once consumed.

How many years in prison should they sit for their aggregious crime I ask you?

As for us, you mistake our sense of reciprocity with a sense of entitlement; We don’t EXPECT the store owed us what we took, we ASSUME they will forgive our mistake(s) because we are otherwise excellent customers.

We will never know their intent (outside a confession) because they were never given an opportunity to correct the problem when confronted. Now if they initially lied when questioned, that most certainly implies intent to steal.

Thanks to people like you, we’re no longer living in America I’m afraid.
http://www.minortopics.com Jessica King

Rich B, America is a land of laws.

While I understand grand larceny is not the same as petty theft, it doesn’t make the latter any more right or legal.

I am not advocating that the overzealous actions in this person’s case were warranted. I’m saying that it isn’t right to steal a sandwich or any other food item and excuse it because of absentmindedness or chalk it up to a “give and take” as you suggested. If you have the tendency to forget to pay for things after you’ve consumed them, here’s a novel idea — have snacks in the car for your pregnant wife or do the honorable thing and go shopping for your wife if only to protect herself from herself.

“Forgetting” to obey the law isn’t a legal excuse.

Intelligence is separate issue from ethics.

I’m sure there’s a lot of intelligent people out there who think nothing of eating a sandwich and not paying for it.

If it was an honest error, then it was an honest error. What I’m offended by is your assertion that a grocery store can get your money under the pretense that you’re going to steal sometimes. That is simply unethical and wrong, no matter how you try to spin it. You are allowing honest people to pick up your tab. I pay when you and your wife steal, regardless of your intention because the store doesn’t ‘eat’ it, they pass it onto the consumer.
Rich B

I wish I had more time to argue but speaking of business, I’m out the door for 2 weeks to do some of my own! (for a national fast food franchise)

it’s only a question of ethics if it were intentional which we are not able to determine.

and the consumer’s price doesn’t go up because of minor, unintentional thefts such as this because they don’t amount to much. especially compared to the rest of waste inherent with business.

if you knew more about owning a business and / or the food service industry then you wouldn’t make such silly statements.
Bruce

I posted this else where, but why was BOTH of them arrested, it’s not clear.
Anebt

Intent is required to successfully prosecute such a case. Those of you who have condemned this woman better not–ever–make any mistake such as these and others. “Mercy will be shown to those who have mercy” so says the Lord. I will have mercy on her simply because I have no proof of intent to steal. Whatever happened to “Excuse me, did you forget to pay for something”? In other words, whatever happened to common sense? Safeway has already paid for all this negative publicity and has permanently lost me as a customer. So take that $5 and make it a $5000 annual loss thanks to just me.
Meighan K

I cannot believe some of the ignorant responses posted here. What ever happened to compassion? I’m sorry the world screwed you so bad that you can not even see one person as honest. Thats surely a sad little life to live to have no trust nor faith in anyone. It’s people like you who come up with the asinine rules and regulations this country has. And as for the person who commented about “hiding the wrappers under the baby seat and paying for food with WIC” , Really? Did you witness it? How ignorant of you. Did you know the limits for wic are around 40,000 a year. Do you make 40,000 a year? Because I sure dont..yet at least. Educate yourself before you speak. There is no shame in needing a little assistance sometimes. I believe this couple did in fact forget to pay for their food. And their punishment was absolutely absurd and heinous.
Justice

Don’t blame Safeway! All they did was call the Police when a patron left the store without paying for merchandise. I bet it was all planned out to see what would happen. Don’t feel bad for these idiots, they will get a huge settlement, book or movie deal.
Colleen

Do you people really think they “forgot” to pay for those sandwiches? The woman and her husband BOTH ATE A SANDWICH and neither one remembered to pay for the sandwiches. They could probably still taste the sandwiches on their breath as they’re walking out of the market! What happened to the wrappers? If they kept them in the shopping cart like any honest person, wouldn’t it remind them to pay? How can they forget when it’s there in front of them? They “bought” $50 in groceries using WIC…a form of payment that can’t be used to pay for the sandwiches. This couple’s story stinks and people aren’t getting the whole story so that they can get some sympathy.
Jenn

Apparently, there are a LOT of people who can’t read. Nowhere in the article does it state that they paid with WIC, had a baby seat (for a 2-year-old?), or even a car. There are a lot of stupid assumptions in these comments. It really shows where America is going. It was a sandwich! Not a tv or a car, so stop making ridiculous connections that aren’t there. And unless you’ve been 7 months pregnant, walking around for hours in a new area while trying to find a grocery store, while taking care of a 2-year-old, you have no idea what was on her mind when they were going through check-out. Not everyone has bad intentions. The police definitely went overboard. That 2-year-old is going to be terrified of cops now because she’s going to think that she’ll be taken away from her parents all over again. Over something as stupid as a sandwich. If I bought a sandwich and forgot it there, do you think they’d give it back to me? Heck no. They’d keep it and make more money off it. It’s all about money, money, money.

Jessica, thank you for being the law-hungry, incompassionate person that you are so that this country has become a police state. You sound like a complete lunatic…
http://www.fark.com JerryBerry

@Azhar – YES. Now that SCOTUS has ruled that corporations are people, too, every incident of company policy breaking the law should result in the arrest or citation of the unit manager, if the customer can’t decide whether or not to press charges!!!

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