Watch Ohio Police Turn Retail Theft into Teachable Moment for Teen

May 21, 2025

When Dayton police were alerted to a teen who had shoplifted items from a store, the officers took an old school approach to address the incident and hopefully stop it from happening again.

Joe Vince

Ohio police turned a bit of juvenile lawbreaking into a teachable moment when they caught a teen shoplifter last week.

The incident happened May 13 when an off-duty undercover Dayton police detective spotted a young man stealing multiple items from Walgreens, the department stated in a social media post. The detective alerted uniformed officers, who approached the teen checking his phone at a fast-food restaurant and handcuffed him.

While the teen was in the cruiser, officers recovered the stolen items and talked to him about what happened. The teens said he was hungry after practice, but he didn't have any money and made a bad decision.

"I'm not saying what you did today wasn't a bad thing, but all things considered, you really do seem like a good kid," one of the officers told the teen. "You're cooperating, and you're speaking well and remorseful."

The officers brought the teen back to the store, which declined to press charges. As they left the store, the officers bought the purloined and offered the teen a ride home.

"I feel a little bit embarrassed," the teen told the officers.

"Don't be embarrassed," replied one of the officers, reminding the teen that this was a jailable offense. "Learn from it.

"You got a bright future ahead of you. You look pretty respectable."

"I just got to get my stuff together," said the teen.

"I get it. Just keep it together," the officer said.

About the Author

Joe Vince

Joining Endeavor Business Media in 2018, Joe has worked on the company's city services publications. He began working at OFFICER.com as the assistant editor. Before starting at Endeavor, Joe had worked for a variety of print and online news outlets, including the Indianapolis Star, the South Bend Tribune, Reddit and Patch.com.