Can I be arrested for shoplifting days or weeks after leaving a store?

Answer:
Unfortunately, yes — even if store staff didn’t catch you at the time, and even if it’s been weeks, months, or years later. Really, the only thing that can stop the government from charging you is the statute of limitations: a law that sets a time limit on when someone can be charged for an offense after it occurred. In Georgia, the statute of limitations for every misdemeanor, including shoplifting, is two years. If you’re charged within that two-year window — whether or not you actually committed the offense — the case can proceed. It’s common for someone to leave a store, only for loss prevention to review surveillance footage, identify them, and track down their information or license plate. Loss prevention is trained specifically to do this. If this is your situation and you’re in the North Georgia area, it’s critical that you reach out to us.

The Statute of Limitations Depends on How the Charge Is Classified

Under O.C.G.A. § 17-3-1(d), misdemeanor shoplifting has to be charged within two years. But shoplifting isn’t always a misdemeanor — under Georgia’s shoplifting statute, a charge involving merchandise valued over $500 becomes a felony, and Georgia’s general felony statute of limitations under § 17-3-1(c) extends that window to four years. Whether you’re working with a two-year or a four-year deadline depends entirely on the value the state alleges.

How Loss Prevention Builds a Case After You’ve Left

Retail loss prevention teams are specifically trained to review surveillance footage after the fact, identify a person from the recording, and connect that footage to identifying information — often a license plate captured on camera in the parking lot. That information can then be used to track down a name and address well after the incident, sometimes with the help of automated license plate readers that many retail lots and shopping centers now use.

Why You Might Not Know It’s Coming

Unlike being stopped in the store, this kind of investigation happens quietly, after the fact, with no confrontation to tip you off. The first sign something happened can be a letter, a phone call from an investigator, or a warrant, sometimes weeks or months after you’ve completely forgotten about the shopping trip in question.

What Happens If Charges Come After the Deadline

If an accusation is actually filed after the applicable statute of limitations has run, that timing itself can be a basis to have the charge dismissed. Georgia courts have held that the state has the burden of showing a charge was filed within the required window, and a late filing isn’t cured just because the underlying conduct genuinely occurred.

Why Delayed Evidence Can Cut Both Ways

A charge that surfaces long after the fact often comes with its own weaknesses. Memories fade, footage quality and identification become harder to nail down with confidence, and the passage of time can make it more difficult for the state to prove who was actually behind the counter that day — all of which can work in favor of building a real defense.

What to Do Next

If this is your situation and you’re in the North Georgia area, it’s critical that you reach out to us.

5 Star Rating

Brett and his team were beyond supportive, helpful, gracious, caring and knowledgeable! We went through the most challenging and difficult time in our life and he was there every step of the way. With results we could never have imagined but definitely prayed for.

Not to mention his level of professionalism. From the first time we spoke to the first time we saw him in court. He stood out from almost every other attorney there. We were so appreciative that our attorney looked and was so professional, pulled together and prepared. When so many others were none of these things.

Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough to convey our feelings and appreciation.

Karen L.

5 Star Rating

I tried to write this several times and it brought me to tears. First may I say this has been the hardest three years of my life. Five lawyers I interviewed and none even understood the law as it applied to my case. So I thought I would try one more and it was Brett. From our first conversation together I knew he understood the law and was the perfect one for the case. I want to say how he prepared the case and presented it, achieving a full dismissal and ruling the police violated my first amendment rights. Complete genius!!!!

If you're reading this review and unsure, stop...call Brett. He always returned my call or texts within a couple hours, never more than 24 hours. He was always courteous and knowledgeable, trust me he talked me off the ledge a couple times. I would have given him 10 stars but 5 was the only option. Thank you Brett for all you did for me!!!!!