On the way out, a Macy’s Herald Square manager pulled Moftah aside by the arm, and told her that she needed to accompany her to an office, and that she had shoplifted, according to an affidavit provided by Moftah’s attorneys from the Usar Law Group. She thought she would show the manager her receipts and be on her way, and followed her into an elevator with her purchases. Two plainclothes security officers joined them on another floor. In the basement of Macy’s they led her to a row of “what looked like jail cells”. Moftah’s purse and phone were taken, and she was patted down under her shirt, legs, private areas as she repeatedly asked what was happening.
According to the affidavit, one of the employees said, “see what’s under the scarf” in referral to her hijab. She repeatedly mentioned that there was a huge mistake, and they should check her receipts. Moftah was locked in one of the cells. Her things were reviewed in front of her, and she “continued to plead with her (the manager), telling her “these were mine, and I had purchased them on my Macy’s card,” and she could easily verify this.
The manager approached her with documents, and told her to sign them repeatedly and pay $100 in order to go home. Moftah hadn’t eaten all day – it was Ramadan. When she began to cry, she was threatened with handcuffs and taunted for stealing during Ramadan and being Muslim, according to her affidavit. The Macy’s manager returned and told her the new price to go home would be $500. When she refused to do so, her credit card was removed from her wallet and charged for the full amount."
I'm usually all in favor of catching/punishing shoplifters, but the above is just shocking. I don't know what the appropriate solution is, but giving a bunch of store-employees the power to run their own mini-jail, lock up anyone they feel like locking up, and preventing them from contacting anyone else for help... that sounds more like the plot of a Stephen King horror book, not a democracy.