A seemingly intoxicated man was filmed inside an ABC store in Virginia walking away with two bottles of alcohol following attempts by employees and customers to get him to return them. The incident was recorded by another customer inside the store and is now gaining a lot of attention on X, mainly because of how the staff handled the situation.
In the video, the man wore a black beanie, an oversized dark jacket over a white shirt, tan pants, and dark shoes. At times, he appeared unsteady on his feet and slurred his speech.
He was asked multiple times by staff to return the bottles he had taken, including after he had allegedly concealed one in his jacket, but he did not comply. The other customer filming tried to convince the man to leave the store and avoid getting arrested, but he still did not budge. Instead, he insisted that he wanted to pay for them.
The staff seemed unconvinced and shot down his offer. At one point in the video, one of the employees managed to grab both bottles from him. In response, the man reached for two different bottles sitting on the counter.
He later set them back down, took back the original bottles he wanted, which had been left on the counter, and then headed toward the exit. An employee rushed to physically intervene but was advised by other people inside the store to let him go instead.
Netizens’ Reaction to the Virginia Store Incident
On X, netizens were split on whether the staff had been right not to take a more aggressive approach in confronting the alleged shoplifter. Some were critical of the employees and thought they should have gotten physical with the man. “Back in the 70’s and 80’s we had no problem with tackling thieves in the store or the parking lot. It made stealing riskier,” one person wrote. Another said, “Stores need to be able to protect their inventory and property. This is crazy.”
A third commented, “Make beating thieves normal again,” while a fourth added, “I would volunteer to fix his teeth.”
Others, however, did not agree with that approach. One person warned, “You go fight with him then. If you get killed, the owner of the store will only be concerned with how fast they can get the store back open. Not you.” Someone else chimed in, “Two bottles is not worth your life.”
A few also pointed out that many retail workers are discouraged from intervening during thefts due to company policies and liability concerns. “Corporations tell employees they will get fired if they try to stop the thief. The thief is well aware of this,” one comment read.
As of now, it is not clear whether the store later involved the authorities or if the man has been identified and apprehended.
