Reaver,
What is your meaning? Theft of an item or theft of ones dignity is still theft.
Many, many years ago, I was working as an asst manager at The Gap in Seattle. Oh, I was maybe 25 or so.
While in charge of the dressing rooms one day (you counted how many items were going in and what was going out) I witnesses a man about my age go into another person's dressing room while the customer was on the floor getting some more items to try on.
The perp, went into the mans pocket and took his wallet- Looked up and saw me. I told him that was not his and to set the wallet down and leave the store. He then told me to, "go fuck myself and mind my own business."
I immediately stepped away form the dressing room and hollard to the store manager to call the mall's security guards and then turned to the customer, who's wallet was being stolen and said, "your wallet is being stolen."
With that the thief bumped hard into me and ran out of the store. I prosued him running through the mall and then shortly exiting the mall into the parking lot. I continued to chase him across the mall's parking lot and into a Hilton Hotel.
As I ran into the hotel, gasping for air, I choked out a command to the counter clerk that I was in the presuit of a thief and for her to call the cops and hotel security. As I completed my request I saw out of the corner of my eye the thief run out the front door again. I took up the chase again.
All of a sudden as we were weaving through traffic the thief stopped and came back to me and threw at me the wallet he had taken and than said, "you don't know who you are dealing with so fuck off."
As this exchange was happening a police cruiser with siren blaring made the corner and the thief took off across a field with me in prosuit again.
He hit a strip mall before me and headed into a Chinese restaurant. As I was getting ready to follow him in I saw two police cruisers pulling into the strip mall and I waved them over. When I realized that they had seen me and were heading my way I ran into the restaurant and noticed that the back exit door was open.
Thinking that the thief had exited out the back door I raced through it and then all of a sudden the door closed behind me. Apparently the open door was a farce and the thief was waiting for me to exit so he could close the door leaving me in the back parking lot of the restaurant. I stood there grasping for breath mentally kicking myself for the mistake I had made.
Then all of a sudden the door reopened and a police officer was standing there and said with a grin, "Are you the guy causing all of the commotion?"
I was soon to learn that the thief ran back out the front door of Chinese Restaurant into the hands of the just arriving police. The police asked me to identify the guy as the man who I had been chasing and had tried to steal the wallet which I did.
It turned out that the thief had a criminal record as long as your arm and their was several bench warrants out for his arrest. Needless to say, the police were stoked and very appreciative.
So again, I reiterate, Chesty; Good job and thank you for doing what you did.
