Posted on Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 2:37 p.m.
U-M Health System employee could face charges in pop theft
By Cindy Heflin
A University of Michigan Health System employee accused of trying to leave a cafeteria with a bottled soft drink he didn't pay for could face charges after he was stopped and arrested Wednesday.
The 19-year-old also failed to pay for a tray of food he left behind in the cafeteria, U-M Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown said.
The employee, who was arrested at 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, was released pending warrant authorization. Police are investigating to determine whether other food thefts have occurred.
Comments
TacoBrocade
Sat, Sep 22, 2012 : 11:16 a.m.
Folks, let's be reasonable. Is the cafeteria just supposed to let everybody take food for free, and not bother with any shoplifters? How much should you be allowed to steal without being arrested? Should a thief only get prosecuted if the value of his stolen goods is higher than what it would cost to incarcerate him? (It's not like he's going to go to jail for this, anyway. It's a pop.) Just because bigger crimes have happened, does it mean everybody should ignore the smaller ones? I hope a lot of these comments aren't serious.
Ben
Sun, Sep 30, 2012 : 4:30 p.m.
Bestill my heart. A level-headed comment on AnnArbor.com - on a U-M article no less! There is hope for humanity yet.
Milton Shift
Sat, Sep 22, 2012 : 12:26 a.m.
Cost to the university for that drink, maybe $0.10. Cost to society for the prosecution and incarceration, at least $10,000. We're getting stiffed folks.
JRW
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 4:10 p.m.
UM hospital has far more important issues to deal with. How about looking into the deaths caused by medical errors or some of the deaths caused by hospital acquired bacteria? Some 200,000 deaths are caused each year in hospitals across the country because of medical errors and hospital-acquired bacteria, and I'm certain UMHS is responsible for a % of those. By the way, why is there no public information about how many deaths each US hospital causes due to medical errors and hospital-acquired bacteria?
Evalyn Yanna
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 2:28 p.m.
At the hospital cafeteria, you get your tray of food and then pay for it before you go sit down. Maybe he selected a tray of food and realized he couldn't pay so he left it?
Old Salt
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 4:33 a.m.
Others get away with stealing thousands of dollars and he get arristed for not paying for a bottle of pop..Come On.
KathrynHahn
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 4:04 a.m.
This is the same UM police Dept. that pulled over director Wes Craven to ticket him for making a right turn without a signal. Overboard? If I get pulled over I better have done something worse than forget to flip on a turn signal, which apparentluy most drivers have come to think of as a courtesy anyhow, not a "rule" UM Police a little full of themselves I think (and so young & underexperienced)
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 2:40 a.m.
The crime is called defrauding an innkeeper and includes this type of incident. It wasn't just the soft drink it was a meal and the drink. No matter how insignificant the item may seem, it is still a crime and if a restaurant picks and chooses to prosecute one and not another, how do you justify that? Why risk a claim of discrimination, etc. In regard to prosecuting for very minor thefts, during my years as a LEO, I heard about a case from the Village Corner store. They had a reputation of being very strict on shop lifting back then. If the thief ran, they would actually chase them. Once they chased down a person who picked up a newspaper, selling then for 25 or 50 cents, took just the sports section and walked out. They prosecuted.
Milton Shift
Sat, Sep 22, 2012 : 12:28 a.m.
Cost to the Village Corner for that sports section, $0.25-0.50. Cost to society for the prosecution and incarceration, at least $10,000. Make sense yet?
anotheruofm
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 1:22 a.m.
It is just a matter of time until another doctor or nurse scandal comes through the layers of foolery. I won't bring my any of my family members to the "MIGHTY U" for anything. So this guy steals a pop and gets arrested. What happened to everyone that covered up the pediatrician case? They should at least be in jail. I heard some of them have been "relocated" without any punishment. Cindy can you shed some light on this?
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 2:50 a.m.
He stole a meal too, see paragraph 2. Not sure why that needed two separate paragraphs. Here is a link to the Michigan penal code. Please find a law that requires reporting a crime that would put them in jail if they do not for this type of offense. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28jaav5555caaqf145portvxjm%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-328-1931-XLIII Then go to the UM Standard Practice guide and find a UM policy that requires crime reporting. If you search well you will find some, but only on specific types of cases or crimes in progress. http://spg.umich.edu/ Then you can re-ask Cindy to do some research if you find a reason for her to do so. The penal code is very specific and you typically cannot put a person in jail for not doing something, except in very limited circumstances.
music to my ear
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 8 p.m.
bet he did that in his high school lunchroom, and got away with it you are a big boy now.
smokeblwr
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 7:58 p.m.
He likely felt "entitled" to it, if you know what I'm saying.
An Arborigine
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 7:43 p.m.
$20,000 for a stress test, but the person administering it can't even afford a soda in the cafeteria. Who's the criminal here?
DonBee
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 7:28 p.m.
I have to wonder about policing priorities when child porn takes months to take action on and a bottle of soda takes minutes.
Basic Bob
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 6:55 p.m.
At least eight people knew about the child porn and failed to report a federal crime. They were rewarded. A grunt stealing a meal is arrested, probably banned for life from the hospital and campus. Fair?
bobslowson
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 5:44 p.m.
@Mick...they were rewarded by not facing any consequences of their actions (or lack there of...)
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 2:51 a.m.
Can you explain how the eight people were awarded?
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 6:54 p.m.
potentially trading your job for a buck fifty worth of carbonated sugar water ?
Goober
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 6:45 p.m.
If what is being reported are the facts - he was arrested for this??? Go figure!
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 3:06 a.m.
Actually you can be arrested and transported to a police station for most offenses. But an officer does not have to. They can arrest you at the scene when it is allowed and unarrest you (released pending warrant authorization) after they are confident they have good ID and a way to contact you to appear for arraignment. A reason to transport might be because the person had no ID and has to be properly identified. An arrest allows the police to investigate further which can uncover more criminal behavior. For example, if a person is arrested a search can be made for other stolen property. A legal arrest is an exception to the search warrant rule and an arrested person can be searched without a warrant. Releasing at the scene pending authorization is efficient because it does not take an officer off the street for an extended time for the processing and paperwork that may be for naught if the prosecutor does not want to proceed on a case considered too minor to take to court. On the other hand perhaps due to the bad press the U suffers now for incidents at the hospital (a la Penn State), UMPD is walking on eggs every time they go into the hospital. I heard something about another case that seemed as if UMPD went overboard at the hospital. It would not surprise me if they are required to make arrests in the hospital whenever allowed by statute because of the scandal. That would be an over reaction IMHO.
JuliaAnnArb
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 6:44 p.m.
So, to recap: pediatrician with kiddie porn=not reported to authorities for half a year guy stealing a bottle of soda=arrested on the spot. Glad to know they've got their priorities straight.
Milton Shift
Sat, Sep 22, 2012 : 12:32 a.m.
You may pay a nickel more for your soda because of shoplifters. But we will all pay $10,000+ more in taxes because of the cost of the prosecution and incarceration.
Ron Granger
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 9:57 p.m.
I wonder if news of a soda theft arrest on the Penn St campus forced the University to take action in this case? In other news, how's that kiddie porn investigation coming, Mary Sue?
YpsiVeteran
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 8:49 p.m.
Get your story straight before you start drawing conclusions. UofM PD was not informed about the kiddie porn for more than six months. That's why no one was arrested at the time. Hospital "security" and lawyers swept the whole thing under the rug. Also, jmac, why shouldn't the food theft guy get charged. I'm sick of paying more for everything to make up for lowlife scumbag thieves. I don't care if you steal a nickel. Unless you make it right on your own, before you get caught, you deserve consequences.
jmac
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 7:06 p.m.
agree with JuliaAnnArb. Arrested? Really? Why not just have the person pay for the stuff and let it go at that? They seem to know exactly what this person was eating and drinking, couldn't be too hard to figure out how much he/she owed for the food!