Should You Run After Shoplifters?

The Scene: A young man ran out of the Vons supermarket on the corner of Colorado and Figueroa this morning, evidently after stealing something. A female Vons employee was hot on his heels, shouting: “Those are my sandwiches.”

According to our Neighborhood Nomad, Richard Espinoza, who witnessed the scene shortly after 11 a.m., just as he was entering the store, several other Vons employees as well as customers ran after the alleged shoplifter but failed to catch him.

“It happens all the time—it could be happening right now, we just don’t know,” Vons Manager José Cerron told Eagle Rock Patch, adding that the supermarket’s “loss prevention” personnel—security guards in plainsclothes—were not on duty at the time. According to a customer, the suspected shoplifter appeared to be behaving suspiciously before he was chased, and his shirt seemed to be stuffed with merchandise. Asked if the female Vons employee should have chased the man, Cerron said she should not have, evidently because she risked being attacked by the suspect if she physically apprehended him.

Question: What would you have done if you were there at Vons this morning?