A grocery store part of a popular chain is facing the threat of a boycott from members of their community after calling the police on one of its teenage employees. A Meijer grocery store located in Seven Hills, Ohio, received criticism after police body-cam footage recently surfaced on social media of the arrest of 19-year-old James, who was an employee at the grocery store.
Allegedly, the boy “stole” over $100 worth of food from the deli department he worked in to eat during his lunches. While his crime seems questionable, things have taken a turn for the worse because details have since come to light that indicate the food the disabled teen stole wasn’t even for sale. It was allegedly throwaway inventory.
The incident, which happened over a year ago, involved James, a special-needs employee at the Meijer store in Seven Hills. The police had been called to the store for an alleged employee theft charge. Footage from the incident in 2024 showed officers responding to the call, where the theft charge was reportedly $110, accumulated from unpaid chicken tender orders that had gone unpaid over a three-month period, as described by a manager.
In the 11-minute video, James told officers that he had taken food from the store a couple of times when he didn’t have his wallet, but had been planning on paying it back, but forgot and didn’t know what to do. James was eventually handcuffed and escorted out of the store to be taken down to the station.
“It started off slow. It happened a couple of times because, like, I forgot my wallet or something, and then I meant to pay it, and then when I had my wallet the following day, I either just forgot or I didn’t know who to talk to,” James told officers. He was arrested on charges of minor theft and taken to the precinct, where he was released on $0 bond. Prior to this offense, James had no arrest or legal record.
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Many people within the community and beyond were outraged on James’s behalf following his arrest. Considering the 19-year-old had no history of trouble with the law, and he had only stolen food to feed himself, it seemed a bit extreme that they had called the police in the first place, when it was really only $110 worth of groceries over the course of months.
Food insecurity is a much more extreme problem than most people realize. According to October 2023 data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, nearly 28 million adults nationwide — 12.5% of the adult population — were living in homes where there was either sometimes or often not enough to eat in the last week. The survey indicated that 3.0% of American adults “often” did not have enough to eat in the last week, and 9.5% “sometimes” did not have enough food.
Rather than having him arrested, management could’ve asked if he needed any assistance because people aren’t just stealing food for the fun of it. They’re usually taking it because they have no other options. Meijer grocery store released a statement addressing the backlash, which has since been deleted.
“We understand some people have questions and concerns about a video circulating online. The video (taken last year) only shows a snippet of the full story, which is understandably leading to a lot of misinformation. The former team member knowingly committed multiple thefts over the course of multiple months, which is why law enforcement was involved. We are very thoughtful and deliberate before taking this type of action against a team member.”
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Since the bodycam footage went viral, rumors have swirled regarding everything from disability allegations to claims that the food James stole was slated for the garbage, but none of these claims have been confirmed by news sources, as of yet. What we do know, however, is that regardless of those two pieces of information, this incident was handled poorly.
It was obvious that James was not stealing for personal gain. Why didn’t management, who knew about his lunch habit, address it when it initially happened? Why did they wait months? Was it so the amount would reach an arrestable threshold? That seems reason enough for the store to face scrutiny.
Unsurprisingly, Meijer’s initial statement on the incident did nothing to assuage the community’s “concern.” They deleted the post and followed it up with another statement on their Facebook page.
While the chain did acquiesce by stating, “We take this very seriously and recognize that the situation should have been handled differently,” most people weren’t exactly applauding their mea culpa.
As one Facebook user stated, “A true apology starts with accountability and taking responsibility for your actions, such as an action plan for how you want others to hold you accountable for improving. Without explaining what you did wrong, how do you expect people to take your apology seriously? This reads as ‘We’re sorry we got caught.'”
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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
