I was employed By Gainey Transport Services as an Over The Road Driver. I often stopped at Wal Marts as their parking lots tend to have parking for 18 wheelers. I went in the Wal Mart down the street from our terminal. I'm wearing a pair of mesh basketball shorts and a Sponge Bob tsirt. I buy a pint of ice cream and a rotisserie chicken. After I paid I told the cashier that I had forgotten to check the automotive clearance section. The reason I mentioned this was I thought if they wanted me to leave the bag with my purchases up front they would probably tell me.
Since the cashier didn't say to leave my bag I figured it was no big deal. I went back in the store l*oked around the automotive and returned through the line 10 minutes later. When I got to the front past the registers an elderly female employee asked me if she could help me. I held up my bag and replied that "I think I found what I wanted." I then proceeded to the entrance and another employee asked me what register I checked out at.
I remembered it was 14 as the store was not real busy early AM. I exited the store and as I began to walk past the rear of my trailer I saw an animated conversation between 3 employees in front of the store. I thought this odd at 1:30 AM and wondered if they thought I had taken something. I got in my truck, started it up and released the air brake. At this time a vehicle approached my truck from each side with a weird siren which caused me to wait and see what they wanted.
One of the Wal Mart Security jumps out and yells at me"Get out of the truck". I ask why? He repeats the request but still has not not fied me why. I let the truck roll forward 6 inches and he pulls a gun out and aims it at me. He tells me to get out of the truck again and when I comply he than yells I need to show him my hands. I told him to make up his mind since to exit the truck I needed to open the door. He then said he would open it for me.
He is still pointing the gun at me and three times I tell him do not point that gun at me. I know if it goes off and I'm not guilty of anything he will have to come up with a lie or go to prison. Remember my only crime was being a wal mart customer and wearing shorts and a tshirt I have no place to conceal a firearm. I then ask him why he has pulled a gun on me and detained me and he says three people said you stole something to which I reply "Am I under arrest?" He says no and I say I'm leaving then.
He tells me I can't leave and puts handcuffs on me. He starts to go in my 18 wheeler and I tell him that this truck has a sleeper on it and he does not have my permission and needs to get a search warrant. The only reason I know this is I worked store security years before and I know there are certain laws you must follow to not violate a persons rights in order to win a conviction if they did steal something. He gets the bag withmy purchases and asks me where my receipt is.
I tell him it is in the bag as it was but it was in my wallet in the bag. He then goes back into my truck and finds another Wal Mart bag with a receipt from a North Carolina Wal Mart. He looks at the N.C. Receipt and is confused. Now he takes me into the store to parade me around in hand cuffs by the registers. I'm a 47 year old white male who does not steal and now I am some kinda pissed.
I say in a loud voice for everyone to hear" OK which one of you said I stole something". None of the employees will look at me and they seem to scatter like cockroaches. The officer then takes me into a room with a bunch of video recorders for store monitoring. I tell him I don't want any of these tapes erased as they are now evidence. At this poin t a youn g white man enters the room and asks me which register I checked out at. I again tell him 14 like the 1st guy. He returns in a couple of minutes and tells the Wal Mart Security Guard to remove the handcuffs.
I then grab my wallet pull out my receipt show it to him and explain that I'm going to make sure this does not happen to another Wal Mart customer. False imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and illegal detention because they imagined I took something. I contacted three lawyers in the Dallas area and they would not take the case. I figured it was a slam dunk with all the video cameras to prove my innocence. I forgot where I was. If they can murder a President in Dallas what is a little civil rights violation. The funny thing is when I tell this story people often chime in with their Wal Mart Nightmare story. Thank You for shopping at Wal Mart!!!
Larry
Temecula, California
U.S.A.
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