A criminal defense lawyer has taken to TikTok to explain why you should always avoid self-checkouts at the grocery store.
Carrie Jernigan (who goes by @carriejernigan1 on the platform) warned her followers that using self-checkout made it much more likely that you would be prosecuted for theft - and even sent to jail.
"As a criminal defense attorney, I advise most people to steer clear of self-checkout," Jernigan said in the clip, which has racked up over 2.6 million views.
She went on to explain that there are three different groups of people who face shoplifting charges because of self-checkouts - and that two of these groups are completely innocent.
The first group are the guilty shoppers - those "with the intent to steal."
"When self-checkout first started it was a very basic theft approach. They would scan a few items that they would pay for and then they would drop a few items that they did not pay for in their sack," she explained.
"Nowadays that will not work - the system is too good to do something that simple," the lawyer continued, adding that shoplifters needed a more "specific plan" to get away with it due to self-checkouts' advanced technology.
The second group of people is those who steal "by mistake", usually by accidentally forgetting to scan an item. Although these people are genuinely innocent, Jernigan explained that stores will often prosecute them anyway.
"Big-box stores are not going to spend their time and resources deciding if you stole it on purpose or if it was a mistake. They have lost all sympathy and they are just taking a 'tell it to the judge approach'," she explained.
As for the final group, Jernigan defines these as the "truly innocent" - people who are charged with theft because asset protection departments find weeks or months later that their inventory count isn't adding up.
"They will begin watching hours of video to see the last person who checked out with the Mario Lego set because they’re two short or an Xbox game. And, for some reason, they pinpoint that they think you did it," she revealed, adding that large stores needed "very little evidence" to obtain an affidavit for warrants.
This means that even if you didn't steal anything by accident, you could face up to "a year in jail."
Jernigan wrapped up by advising viewers to pay by card at self-checkouts and to always keep proof of the items they'd purchase.
While it may seem unlikely that big stores would spend time prosecuting over small items, many people took to the comments section to share their own experiences with what the lawyer mentioned.
"Took me 7 months and cost me 6,000 to clear my name after I was falsely accused and the evidence should have exonerated me immediately," one user claimed.
"My mom accidentally left a tiny $3 lemon oil in her cart after buying $300 in groceries. She was charged with theft and had to do community service," another shared.
