An accused California shoplifter was stunned to learn she might be slapped with a felony charge after “new laws” that crack down on low-level theft, police video shows.
The Seal Beach Police Department in Orange County published a montage of security, dash and body camera videos that show three women allegedly lifting more than $600 in merch from an Ulta Beauty before officers caught up with the gals, slapped them in cuffs and shoved them into a squad car.
That was when one suspect asks if they could be charged with a felony, to which her accomplice delivers the sobering news: “B—h, new laws. Stealing is a felony.”
Seal Beach Police Department
“This is Orange County, b—h. They don’t play,” lamented the alleged thief.
The new laws in question are Proposition 36 — a ballot initiative that went into effect Wednesday undoing soft-on-crime policies limiting law enforcement’s ability to crack down on lesser crimes like shoplifting.
Under one law passed in 2014, thieves could only be charged with a misdemeanor if the stolen items they were less than $950.
But that law coincided with a surge in retail theft, prompting an outcry from citizens and businesses alike and pushing politicians to finally reverse course.