The Scariest Stop Ever

Some time after the incident with the sex offender, I was working for a different company in a very large city. I was utilizing the camera system to scan the floor on a relatively slow day. Customer traffic was light. It was a very warm summer day and was just beautiful outside. As I was observing customer behavior, one particular guy kept drawing my attention. He wasn't doing anything particularly suspicious, but there was just something about him. Anyone who works, or has ever worked in this field knows what I'm talking about. Your stomach sinks just a little and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I continued to observe him for about 5 more minutes when, sure enough, he grabs a CD and sticks it in his waist band. This excited me and threw me off a little, all at the same time. This was a clean cut and relatively well dressed male in his late 30's. Why is he stealing one CD? It didn't make any sense. He begins walking toward the front of the store without a care in the world. Most of the time, a shoplifter will act very nervous and will constantly be looking around to see if they're being followed. They'll hesitate right before they exit and look to see if there's anyone that looks like they might be security standing near the front, or outside, waiting to stop them. This guy just didn't give a shit. He walked right through the exit and was as polite and respectful as someone can possibly be when I stopped him.

-"Sir, I'm with store security and I just need you to step back inside the store with me for a few minutes so we can talk about the CD. It's not a big deal at all, I just need to get the merchandise and get some information from you. I'll have you out of here as quick as possible."

-"Yes sir, I'm sorry. I understand- it's not a problem. I don't know what I was thinking. I won't give you any trouble at all."

This was an older gentleman (than me) calling me "sir" and was definitely not something I was used to. In the office, he was very respectful, upbeat, and even slightly humorous. The only thing that made me nervous about him at all was that he absolutely refused to tell me who he was. Under normal circumstances, for only 1 CD, we would have trespassed him from the store and released him without getting police involved. But standard practice was to contact police in every case and prosecute subjects who either provide false information or refuse to provide ID. I asked him several times to provide ID information and he just flat out, but politely, refused without explanation. Even after I told him that if he provided ID, he'd probably be released but if he didn't, we'd have to call police, he still refused. I actually think that the only reason he didn't run from the office when I told him we would have to call police is because I had a very very large and very very muscular store manager standing directly in front of the door. He wouldn't ever hurt a fly, but he just looked like he could kill you by looking at you wrong. So we did what we had to do. Now, something else you have to understand is that in this city, you were waiting a very long time for police to arrive. All the police knew was that we had a cooperative adult male in custody for stealing 1 CD, but refusing to provide ID. This wasn't exactly a priority for them. So... 2 hours later, a single lone police officer arrived at the store and began to question the guy. He again refused to ID himself but did, however, tell the police two key factors that would finally lead to an identification: he drove to the store himself, and he was from out of state. It didn't take long for the officer to locate a vehicle with an out of state plate in the lot. The officer left me, the manager, and the subject in the office while he went to go obtain information from and about the vehicle. After about 10 minutes, the officer returned to the office. His demeanor was extremely different and I noticed that there were no fewer than 3 other officers standing in the hall outside the office. The officer came into the office with a very serious look on his face and one hand on his tazer. I had no fucking clue what was going on. I looked at the subject sitting on the bench and he just kind of smirked. The officer ordered him to stand and place his hands behind his back. The subject stood and did as he was directed. No one was saying a word to me. The officer grabbed on the subject's arm and began escorting him out of the office. As the subject walked past my desk, he turned and smiled at me and I will never ever forget what he said to me:

-"Hey man, thanks for being a gentleman. You have no idea who you got and you probably saved your own life."

I just sat there somewhat dumbfounded. After I regained my focus, I followed the officers and the subject out of the store. As I got to the exit, I observed anywhere between 7 and 10 cruisers in the lot. These were mostly two-man cars so you can imagine the number of officers actually on the scene. No one would speak to me or even let me know who I just got. This pissed me off and frustrated me for two reasons. First, I wanted to know what the hell was going on, and second, I needed the guy's information to write up the report. I also needed an explanation for the report because it would have seemed rather odd when I listed the 10 different car numbers and 20 badge numbers that responded to the store for a "cooperative" male shoplifter in my report. Finally, as I was walking back in the store, the shift sergeant stopped me and began asking me questions. And then it all came out. The man that I had just apprehended- the person that I had just shared a small office with for almost two hours- the respectful gentleman shoplifter was a man from South Carolina. And in South Carolina, this "gentleman" was wanted for the murder of 6 people including his wife, his in-laws, his boss, and an office building security guard who apparently "disrespected him." In the car, the police located two hunting rifles, a .45 caliber pistol, multiple knives, and a suicide note.

I didn't sleep for almost a week.

And the CD he stole?

Celine Dion

That explains the suicide note.