Pharmacy Phrenzy

Late one night, a man wandered the pharmacy for a little while, checking out products here and there. I waited for him at the counter as he said he required no assistance, and when he was ready, put through a few items for him.

Just after I served him, the security guard approached him and asked him, "Can I check your pockets please?"

The man refused and asked why he had to show his pockets. The security guard demanded, "Show me what you have in your pockets!"

I was unaware the man had tried to steal anything, but quite often, you are unaware. I said to the man, "Just show him what you have, if there's nothing, you can go, if not, I'll give you the chance to pay for it or hand it back."

The man insisted he had nothing in his pockets. He tried to leave the shop but the guard stood in his way, so started to push the security guard. The guard, obviously having none of this, stood his ground and at the same time reached for the man's left pocket.

The security guard said to me, while reaching, "He's stolen a berocca!" Berocca, in case you didn't know, is an effervescent vitamin group B & C product most often used as a hangover cure. Wikipedia information here.

The man protected his pocket and began to push more. The guard's reaction was to restrain him, pulling his right arm while still reaching for the left pocket, causing the man a little bit of discomfort. The man attempted to break free of the guard and a small struggled developed.

While this was going on, I went to the phone and said to the man, "If you don't stop fighting and produce the product I'm calling the cops!"

The man then started to to get quite agitated and began yelling and whimpering, his face had gone red and it look like he was crying!

"Stop pushing me," he said, "Let me go, I haven't got anything! This is harassment, let me go!"

I called the police, and began describing the incident when the man started yelling, "I'm having a panic attack!" and fell to the floor.

"Stop, I'm having a panic attack!" He continued.

I described the incident to the police and then added, "And now he's having a panic attack. I don't know if he's faking or not, but it happened as soon as I called you guys."

The guard stopped after finding the product in his pocket, a small box of red berocca. The man meanwhile, curled into a ball and crawled into a corner of the counter and some shelves, whimpering and crying, "Leave me alone, I'm having a panic attack."

The man stayed there with the security guard watching over him while he continued to complain of being harassed and having anxiety. I continued to serve other customers, of which all inquired as to what was going on.

This went on for about 10 minutes until the police arrived. Two officers walked in, one an older gentleman and a younger female officer who asked, "where is the guy?"

I pointed to him, "he's over there."

The male officer approached the man, then said, "Oh, hi Barry. What trouble are you getting yourself into tonight?" (Real name not used)

"You guys know him?!?" I said

"Oh yeah, he's been at the station earlier this week. We'll handle it from here."

The police talked to him privately in the corner for about 10-15 minutes, calming him down, while I continued to serve and the guard stood close by.

Eventually, after taking short statements from both the guard and I, the police walked out with the man. To this day, I'm still unsure if they arrested him, as we did recover the product and the guard approached the man before he had officially "stole" anything. To officially steal something you must leave the premises with the item, of which the man did not, although he intended to. And to top that off, he is within his rights to refuse any bag or pocket check!

Sometimes, sorry, I mean, a lot of the time I feel the law is out to protect the criminal rather than the victim. The crazy world we live in...

Unfortunately for us, intention to steal is not breaking the law, it's almost breaking the law... In totally unrelated news, intention to travel is apparently a foul in basketball according to the umpire of our competition!