This family had no idea they were under police surveillance inside the store. June 15th, 2025. Officers respond to Meyer after reports of a retail theft. >> Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop getting in the car. >> All of you. >> I'll just >> Where's the guy? Where's the guy with the White Socks jersey? >> I don't know. >> That ain't me. >> That ain't me. >> Okay. So, you're loading your groceries, but then you see me. You just get in your car. >> Cuz you just scared me. >> Did you pay for them? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Where's the receipt? >> You talking about the one with the white jersey? >> Yeah. Where's the white sock jersey? >> I've seen I've seen that cat does go in there. >> Okay. So, they they said that you were with them. >> All of your descriptions match the descriptions we were given by laws prevention. >> Ask them. >> Do you have the the important thing is do we have the receipts for the items? You want some? >> Y'all the one winning the show. I've never been in school. >> All right. >> That's so we can skip the games here. >> Did you take it? >> Did we take it? >> Before we sit here like pretend looking for a receipt that we don't have. >> Never got out the car. >> Did you get the Did you get the card from? >> No, I gave him. >> Hey, kiddo. >> Get back in the car. Okay. >> The one who you talking about with the stock shirt? Okay. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Who is he to you? >> He got the car. >> He's got the link card. >> Yeah. >> He never came out the store. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. >> I never been in a store. So they can tell you I never been in it. >> We can leave that open. >> Sounds like these other >> So we took the stuff in the car, right? Cuz nobody paid for this then. Who smells like alcohol? >> Oh, not me. >> That's him. >> Yeah, he came out. But we don't know where he went. >> You said he did come out. >> Yeah, he came back right back in the store. >> Okay. So, who was supposed to pay for this stuff? Him. >> Mhm. >> But you walked out with it. He did. >> No, he did. >> He left back in the store. >> Okay. Everybody needs IDs except for the kids, obviously. >> Thank you. >> Same address here. >> No. Yeah. >> Okay. Everybody's at the same address. >> He going to come out. >> He's going to come out. You sure? >> Mhm. >> Cuz he kind of just left you guys high and dry with a card of stolen goods. >> The woman said she gave her link card to a girl in the back to buy items from the store with that man who was supposedly the kid's play uncle. >> That's like his uh play uncle. >> His play uncle. >> Yeah. I'm friend of the family. >> Okay. >> I really just met him. He like a friend of his family. >> So where is everyone sitting in the car though? Cuz where does he sitting in the car go? This car is entirely full. >> No, the kids seat in the back where he was sitting there. >> Still not enough seats for everybody else. >> It looks like there was two seat belts in the back seat. >> No, that's three. It's three seats back there. >> The far back >> all the way in the back. >> Well, as of right now, it's stolen goods. We have to review footage now. So, all you guys are being detained. You're not free to leave at this time because we're investigating a retail theft. And the way that she was behaving tells me that you guys were aware of it because as soon as she saw me, she dipped inside the car. >> No, I want to wear none. I don't steal. >> I don't steal. >> See, they can they can tell you. >> You don't steal. >> They didn't see my face on no camera. They didn't even see me going. >> Just her and the other guy cuz she they literally gave everybody here's description. >> You walked out with this cart when it wasn't paid for cuz they gave it to her. It's by the door. I just told you that. >> Okay. But you knew it wasn't paid for. So why' you walk out with the cart of stuff that you didn't know it was paid for? That's what we didn't know. It was crazy yesterday. >> Well, the cameras will tell us, but if she walked out of the store with unpaid merchandise, that's a retail theft. >> How old are you? >> Me? >> Yeah. >> I'm 617. >> You're 617. >> 17. >> What's your date of birth? >> 1024. Seven. That's 17. >> And you got to call your parents cuz you're not being released with them. You got to get released to a parent. >> And you're his only ride here. >> Yeah. My he brought him here. >> Oh, there's a dog. >> There's a dog in here. Shut up. >> Well, unfortunately again, if he gave you the card of goods and you walked out with it and he didn't walk out with anything, that's unfortunately you you stealing stuff. >> I didn't walk out with the car. >> You just said you did. >> Yeah. You just said you got the card from him, >> right? He gave it to us all together, but he didn't give it to me. >> You walked out and then you're back here stacking it up in your back of your car and then as soon as you see me, you try and get everybody in real quick and then try and hightail it out of here. >> So, I don't believe for a second you guys didn't know what you're coming here to do. Maybe you two didn't, but they definitely knew. There's also not enough seat belts in here. There's two seat belts in the back. >> Three here, two here. You can go. >> I'll take. All right. Thank you. >> I'm going to start taking the stolen stuff out of the back seat and put it in the cart. All right. I'm going to shut the door. Okay. >> Huh? >> Yeah, cuz no one paid for it. You guys had to pay for stuff. That's why. I know. >> That's okay. It's a couple grand worth of stuff in there. >> Hey, boss. What are we doing? Nothing. All right. Looking for my family. >> Looking for your family? Are they waiting for you? Did you take anything? >> Did you eat anything out of a bag? >> You didn't need any food or anything like that? What was in that? >> I get my IDs and stuff. >> Yeah. >> Do you have an ID? >> That's it. >> Okay. Got a hidden pocket in there or something? Did you see him do anything though? Like >> Yeah, he pushed the whole shopping cart up the whistle. >> No, no, separate. Yeah. No, it's all fake. >> Okay, hold on. We'll figure that out. >> We'll figure that out. >> You don't have an ID on you, though? >> I'm looking for it. >> Okay. Do you have your family members link card? >> They got the link card. >> They got the link card. They're telling me you got it. When my partner gets here, if you want to pull up that security footage as soon as he does, that way we'll we'll hold on to everybody until we figure out who actually took what and then we'll go from there. >> I'm gonna run him. He's looking for his license now. He probably doesn't have it. Apparently possibly gave another name to somebody else here at Meer, right? >> Not here. That was another critical breach. >> Okay, I'll just meet you back there as soon as I'm done. >> All right. Well, if you don't have it, you don't have it. You don't need to keep digging for it. The issue is they're alleging that you and your family stole some things today. How much have you had to drink today? >> I have um maybe one or two beers earlier. >> Okay. There's one of those in the car. >> I had beer earlier. >> Okay. >> So, who's your family outside? Like cousins, sisters, daughters. >> Yes. Deep family. >> Deep family. >> But then they're alleging that you had the link card and you were supposed to pay for it and they're saying that you gave them the cart and then they pushed the card out. >> Now, they supposed to pay for it through the cash app or something like that. I mean a food straight through or whatever. >> So you're supposed to pay them back. >> They all stay out with you or no? >> They stay with me? >> Yeah. Out in like Copper Grove or Rockford? >> Well, yeah. They stay in Rockford, too. >> They stay in Rockford. >> It's pretty far. What are you guys doing out there? >> Oh, business day. So, >> you guys good here? I'm going to go see if Velp's back in the office. >> Yeah. >> Uh yeah, I'm going to run to the bathroom. >> Okay, great. Okay, that sounds good. All of this was or the guy that >> that's what he was. all of this. >> Did he push it out? >> The loss prevention officer stated that the total value of the stolen items was approximately $1,600. >> Let's look at the camera footage real quick before we do anything, just to confirm. >> Yep. >> It's the 1,600 for just his cards. >> So that's her. >> Oh man, the kid pushed it out. That's gross. That's so classic. >> How old? Yeah, the kid's young. >> Yeah, he's got to be like 8 to seven. >> Okay. CCTV footage showed all three juveniles pushing the cart out of the store. >> Technically, all three of them. So, they all exited together, but he's got the possession of the cart. >> Are they both Are they both juvenile? >> They're all juveniles in the back of that car. >> I don't want these people in here. I mean, they're juveniles, >> right? >> I don't want other I don't want Whoever Whoever they're with, it's an adult. Yeah. >> Can we trespass the hell out of them? >> Yes. >> Whatever. This guy Everything >> this guy for the full 1600 >> everything. >> Yo, he's got a felony, so we'll definitely charge him with a felony. They again claimed that he was supposed to pay for it, gave them the card, and then they walked out with it, which I don't believe obviously because they're lying. But also, when I pulled up, they tried to scramble into the car pretty quick. >> We just trespassed everybody and a guy just charges on him. I guess we've got a previous on him that's that he didn't go out the doors. This was last week. He tried to push out and there was like another offduty team member that like stopped him. It wasn't a theft. They didn't even call because it wasn't a theft. >> That's how I recognize him. I'll be back. All right. So, here's what's going to happen for now. We're all going to go outside. You are not free to leave. You're going to hang out with my partners outside. If you try to run away, you're going to go in handcuffs. Okay. Let's go outside to the front real quick. I got to talk to the other parties again real quick. At the very least, right now, it seems like everybody's getting trespassed. You guys can hang out over here. He's going to determine what he wants to do with these kids after he talks to his management because they're underage. She said the juvenile system is not the best in his opinion. >> Mhm. >> So he said uh he's going to see if they just trespass him. The kid with the white shirt had most possession, but right at the end you can see her kind of grab at it and like help him push her through the doors and like laughing and stuff, but other than that, I don't I don't know if he's going to want to charge her with that, too. Can you roll down both windows? >> You want to tell me the truth now? >> Don't don't don't. >> I We told you the truth. >> What was the truth? >> That he gave us the baskets and we pushed it out. He pushed it. He bumped it. >> You knew it wasn't paid for, right? >> No, I did. He told us he paid for it. He said that he paid for it. He gave us the cart and he was pushing it out. He bumped it and I took it from there. I pushed it to right there. >> Okay. >> And then they took over. >> He kept leaving us in the store and we kept looking for him. But every time I see him, he was getting more and bigger stuff. The last time I see him before he came out the store, sir, and I was buy them clothes. And I can show you. >> Two Two of these are your children. >> That's my daughter. That's my son. >> Okay. So, these two are your children. He told you that he paid for them, handed you the cart, and then you guys exited the store. Well, yeah, he walked out with it. >> Exactly. >> And how old are you? >> 11 years old. >> Okay. But so you guys are on the hinge or on the hook for felony retail theft. >> Okay. At the very least, he wants everybody in this car. I'll talk to him about the little guy in the back, but he wants everybody in this car no trespass from this meer. >> I never been in there. >> And you're not going to be able to go in there ever, unfortunately. It's just going to be a p piece of paper that says you can't come back to this meer. If you do, you could be subject to being arrested. Okay. We'll work on that, but I need to figure out what he wants to do with your children if he wants to charge him with felony or retail theft at all. Okay. >> So, I respoke to the kids. They're all adamant that he was the one that was supposed to pay for them. They kept losing them in the store, which bodess well with your with your story of or well your account of things with the phone call. Claimed that he said, "I paid for these items. Here you go." And then we walked out. Either way, I mean, it depends on what you guys want to do. >> Bite you anywhere else. >> What happened there? >> The officer observed an injury to the man's leg and requested the fire department to provide medical assistance. >> He's going once we figure out the hospital thing. >> All right. All right. Here's the deal. Meer's showing some mercy. Okay. Theoretically, they could charge both of your young kids with retail theft. Felony, no less. If you're not sure if somebody bought it, I know you guys are still growing up and everything. As much as you want to trust people that you're with and around, you got to make sure you're watching out for yourself. Somebody says, "I paid for it now, I'm sure you're going to be like, "Let me see the receipt before I walk out of the store." Cuz if you walk out with it, you're in trouble. Doesn't matter if he told you or not. >> Hey boss, real quick before you go, sorry I'm going to cut you off. From this point on, you're under arrest, okay? But you're still going to go to the hospital. You're still going to get checked out for retail theft. Okay? >> Nope. We're not doing that right now. That's what court's for. So, right now, you're still going to go to the hospital. I need you to turn around. My partner's going to make sure you don't have any weapons on you. Okay. Cuz as of right now, you're in our custody. >> No. No. >> Okay. >> This is saying that you're not going to come back here. Okay. >> That's your driver's license, ma'am. >> There you go. >> Okay. You guys are good to go. All right. >> The man was charged with retail theft, but first he was taken to the hospital. Everyone else, including the kids, was issued a trespass warning. So, what do you think?