Can I be charged with shoplifting if I never went inside the store?

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Can I be charged with shoplifting if I never went inside the store?

I gave someone a ride to the grocery store and when she came out a man followed her and asked her to come back inside. She looked at her receipt and said it was a mistake and offered to pay for the item in question which was

about $8. They said no you can’t so she took out the meat and gave it back to the guy. Then she got in my car and we left. Now I got a letter stating that there’s a show cause hearing to determine whether or not they will proceed with charging me for shoplifting but I never entered the store. Can I be

charged with shoplifting if I didn’t know anything about it? I didn’t enter the store at all.

Asked on September 24, 2018 under Criminal Law, Massachusetts

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

You can be charged with a crime if you assisted in it--that is, if you were an accomplice. If there is evidence that you were working with this person and helped them in some way--whether as lookout, as transporation to the store to be robbed, as "get away driver," etc., that could be enough to charge you. There mere fact, however, that you were driving them, is not enough: there must be evidence that you knowingly or intentionally were helping them to try and shoplift in some fashion.


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