He left the goods in the store before he left the store. He never went out of the store with the goods. If I put groceries in a cart then leave the store, have I stolen them?
I betcha this one does not stick, though, yes, reality says he was trying to steal them. The DA may not even bother.

The police and employees in all cities are extremely racist. I bet the guy was African American. He ran because he knows police officers in Mountain Veiw, and everywhere else LOVE taking a African man, woman, Latin man, or woman to any jail. How dare the police arrest him on suspicion of grand theft.!? Also, he probably left the "bag oi merchandise" because of how poorly the employeeS at KHOLS WERE TREATING HIM. I know from experience. Being watched, stereotyped, and pre judged is embarrassing, and cold, causing excessive frustration, and extreme anger. STEALING IS LEAVING A STORE WITH MERCHANDISE NOT PAID FOR!

No merchandise on the person, who was running. Wow. A new low for Kohl's and MTV Police.Very scary to think this harassment is taking place. The phrase "Ditched the bags before fleeing.." paints a much different picture than saying "A bag with merchandise was found inside the store; no goods left Kohl's unpaid for..." or something like that. How can someone be arrested for theft when they don't take anything? What is going on here?!

Purse snatchers are often ditch the purse so are never caught w/ merchandise.
To be sure, he was going to steal it, saw security and ran, throwing the bag away. That's pretty clear. And he wasn't running from cops, the cops were called and then they saw him trying to run away from across the parking lot. Was he afraid if he paid for something he would be arrested? hahaha. No.

The point is that because he never left the store w/ the stuff he may get off on a technicality. I guess they could get him on conspiracy to commit theft, but that's a stretch.
The claim of racism in this instance is totally unfounded and almost laughable.

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@Too much CNN, I deplore police abuse as much as the next person, but I agree with you. A normal shopper puts items in their cart, not in a bag. The article is pretty clear that the crime he's accused of is "attempted grand theft".

@Anke, Kohl's provides large capacity plastic shopping bags instead of carts for use while in the store. If you've shopped at Ikea, they are similar to the blue ones available there.

@BD, thanks for clarifying that; it explains a lot.

As a former loss prevention officer for Kohl's in Las Vegas, I can say that the Kohl's LP are not allowed to make the stop unless the merchandise is taken out of the store. What the police choose to do is another story. It's hardly harassment on the Kohl's LP part though as the person loaded up the bag and carried it around then ditched it.