Four Juveniles Arrested for Shoplifting in PV, Teen Court

In early 2023, our four juvenile clients, were stopped outside a small grocery store near a local high school in Palos Verdes.  The storeowner / manager and his wife were aware that youths from the local high school regularly shoplifted at their store and were in a quandary of whether to report it to police and risk alienating the local clientele.

Finally, however, after months (and perhaps years) of watching this go on, normally involving very small items less than even $5,00, the manager called the local police.

On that day, our four clients were detained immediately outside the store on suspicion of violating Penal Code § 459.5 (“Shoplifting”).  They were handcuffed and taken to the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, where they were then released to their parents after signing a promise to appear in the Long Beach Juvenile Court in about two and a half months.

Many students also at the store watched the police take action and handcuff our clients.  News of the “arrest” was all over the Internet within minutes.  Even the teachers at the school became aware of the incident.

(The following week, the store again coordinated with local police to detain ten more students, all also from the nearby high school.  Some of these students were legal adults, age 18, so their matters would not qualify for juvenile court and would instead be filed in the Torrance Superior Court).

Each of our four clients were friends with each other.  They were on a “nutrition break” at the school and drove over to the nearby market to get some food. 

One of our clients took a protein bar without paying.  Another client shoplifted a drink and Pop Rocks.  Our third client took a burrito and a drink without paying.  Our fourth client was not found shoplifting anything, but was nonetheless detained while standing in line to pay for his food. 

All the clients were cited for shoplifting and also told to appear in the Long Beach Juvenile Court.  The market manager apparently told police that this fourth client had shoplifted from his market in the past and police detained him anyways as well.

It was expressly understood that the clients did not work as a team or in any coordinated manner to commit the thefts.  Rather, the shoplifting was really just three separate, distinct and unrelated, but simultaneous thefts.

None of the clients, all juniors at the high school, had any criminal history.  They were generally good students with one client taking three Advanced Placement (AP) classes during the semester of the detention.

After the parents picked up the kids from the police station and one parent for each client signed a promise to also appear in the Long Beach Juvenile Court, the parents discussed hiring an attorney.

The parents called Greg Hill & Associates and described what had happened.  They asked what would happen to their child and Greg explained how in low-level juvenile matters like this, the Juvenile District Attorney Office may refer the matter to the Torrance Juvenile Probation Department for a pre-filing diversion program under Welfare & Institutions Code § 654.1. 

Such programs included the Juvenile Offender Intervention Network (“JOIN”), Teen Court and the Neighborhood Justice Program (NJP).  Greg then explained each program and that if retained, he would write the Juvenile District Attorney’s office at the Long Beach Courthouse and suggest the case against all four clients be referred instead to the Juvenile Probation Department for a pre-filing diversion program.

Greg also recommended that each client immediately enroll in an online shoplifting prevention class that takes about two hours to complete through Third Millennium.

The parents asked what type of punishment may be involved in the Teen Court program, JOIN or the NJP, all programs that Greg had experience with through prior clients.

Greg explained that first and foremost, the clients would be required to stay away from the market at least during the period of supervision (not probation) and may be required to write a letter of apology to the market manager.  The punishment may also include 20 to 40 hours of community service and, in some cases, a letter to one’s parents apologizing for the lapse in judgment.

The parent’s children, the clients, then each called Greg and discussed the facts of the case and generally, the same topics as Greg discussed with their parents.

The clients then retained Greg Hill & Associates and each client completed the Third Millennium class within 24 hours, which was remarkable. 

Greg then wrote a letter on behalf of all four clients to the Long Beach Juvenile District Attorney’s office, enclosing the certificates of completion of the online class, and suggesting the matters be referred to the Juvenile Probation Department for some form of pre-filing diversion such as JOIN, the NJP or Teen Court. 

About two weeks later, the clients received phone calls and emails from the Juvenile Probation Department, requesting a meeting with each client and their parents.  The Juvenile Probation Department also requested a letter of apology from each client to the market owner and to each client’s parents, as well as a photocopy of the Third Millennium class completion certificate.

Greg then attended each meeting with the client, his parents and the probation officer.  Each meeting was at least one hour and one was two hours long. 

At the meeting, the probation department explained that each client’s case was being referred to Teen Court.  This was a huge relief for each client, as it would avoid a case filing in court and permitted the client, upon completion of the terms of the Teen Court, to seal the police report and have the record of the detention removed from each client’s criminal history.

Greg then prepared each client for Teen Court prior to his “trial,” which were at Redondo and Narbonne High School.

Having the police report sealed and their criminal history erased insofar as this case sealed was a paramount goal for each teen, who were all college-bound.  The parents were especially happy with this outcome.