22-year Chicago police veteran fired over $1 bag of trail mix

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Chicago Tribune

A 22-year veteran Chicago police officer was fired last month over charges he stole a $1 bag of trail mix from Walgreens.

Aaron Pena was known as the "mayor of 26th Street" by residents in the Ogden District for his helpfulness in the community, according to testimony before the Chicago Police Board released Wednesday.

City attorneys alleged that Pena went to the Walgreens in the 1900 block of West Cermak Road in August 2007, bought two bags of trail mix and then took a third from the store without paying. Pena was recorded on store security cameras.

Pena testified that he had opened one bag and thought it was so good he wanted a third. But he said that as he walked to the front of the store to pay, he became concerned that he couldn't hear his radio. He said he forgot about the extra bag when he went outside.

"It had slipped my mind . . . what had occurred," Pena testified.



Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cop-fired-20-nov20,0,7368786.story

[cosmicone]

1. What is good for the goose .....

If it was an average person, he/she would have been prosecuted despite that explanation. Why should it be any different for a cop?

[Seeking Serenity]

2. It's not good when the police steal.

Even if it was as innocent as Pena tried to make it sound, it does carry with it the image of police using their position to expect "free stuff" from merchants with the unspoken quid-pro-quo attached.

Maybe firing was a bit extreme, but an officer's conduct reflects on the department as a whole, especially when that conduct appears to be oh-so-familiar.

[CreekDog]

20. doesnt make sense to say he expects free stuff when he paid for two of them

then went back for a third.

[Orrex]

3. I accidentally stole a laptop and a blackberry like that once

I couldn't get any bars on my phone, so I stepped outside and forgot that I was carrying stolen merchandise.

Silly me.

[Donnachaidh]

4. Two prior thefts recorded at the Walgreens

I don't see the problem. He STOLE, not once, but three times. Do we have special circumstances for cops now? :shrug:

[LisaM]

5. No one should be prosecuted for a $1 theft

I'm not saying it's right to take a bag of trail mix - of course it's not - but charge him triple and let him walk.

[Donnachaidh]

6. and do you think a normal citizen can do the same?

Sorry -- the dude's busted. There should be NO difference, whether you have a badge or not.

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. I agree... everyone should be able to walk with payment of triple, if caught

lol :P

[LisaM]

14. I agree. I just don't think you prosecute a normal person for that either

I think a monetarily adjusted fine would be a better option.

[olkaz]

21. It's the THIRD TIME he did it.

According to the linked article, this was the third time.

Something is wrong with this guy. Once, fine. Twice, wtf? Three times? Don't let the door hit you.

[Systematic Chaos]

8. Silly me - I almost sided with the cop! And then I read the whole article.

So this was his third time? From the same store?

If there's a three strikes law in that state I think they should apply it to him just before repealing the ridiculous piece of shit.

:grr::grr::grr:

[boobooday]

9. A lot of convenience store owners GIVE the stuff to the cops

I've seen it myself. It might have been something he'd done before without incident.

I don't think the "oh it slipped my mind" excuse would work if one of us tried it.

[Systematic Chaos]

10. I worked for one that did.

They could have all the soda, coffee, and deli stuff like nachos and sandwiches they wanted. They could also take packaged goods within reason.

And the place was in such a rotten part of town it still lost untold amounts of merchandise to beer runs and crafty shoplifters. :eyes:

[apnu]

16. I used to give them stuff all the time.

Worked 3rd shift in one of the worst neighborhoods of Albany NY. We were one of three or four all night things in the city (besides the giant grocery stores) so cops came in all the time for coffee and snacks. I always paid for their stuff out of my pocket. On Christmas and New Years, i bought them a case of beer that they I kept cold in the back for them and they picked up when their shift ended.

The upside? When I had a problem on the lot and dialed 911 or hit the panic button, I had a 30 second response time. They rode in like the calvary. The other stores I knew... not so much.

[Blue_in_Mass]

17. Cops thrive on bribes of all shape and form.

Free coffee at the 7/11, free donuts at the dunks, free friends wherever, etc, etc. They are innately corrupt.

No one that has signed up to oppress and send his/her fellow humans to prison cells is of the right mind, nor moral caliber. It is a disgusting profession.

[WildEyedLiberal]

22. "Oppress and send fellow humans to prison cells"

LOL okay buddy, how about this: we'll send all the murderers and rapists to YOUR neighborhood and you can welcome them with your special brand of brotherhood and unity. I'm sure all they need is someone of your 'moral caliber' to understand their pain and hold their hand and sing kumbayah with them, and poof, they'll magically be upstanding citizens in no time flat.

Lots of DUers live in la la fantasyland, but I think you take the cake.

[sabra]

11. some interesting points

- he paid for 2 bags and took one extra
- two prior incidents but not charges
- in 2005 he had a stroke

[DeadManInc]

12. 3 times is not a "it slipped my mind", That is a habit.

[Zuiderelle]

13. Wait... he says "he had a stroke in 2005 that occasionally left him 'unfocused.'"

If that's true, why wasn't he out on disability? Or at least working a desk job? It's hard to know what happened here. He paid for two of the bags, then took a third then got distracted (that's reasonable if he had a stroke that made him forgetful). But it just seems unlikely that's true, because he shouldn't have been actively out there as a cop if his stroke made him "unfocused." And he LEFT A BURGLARY CALL to go get some trailmix???

Sounds a little bit fishy to me... all of it.

[TheWraith]

18. On this, I agree.

I wouldn't fire somebody over a $1 bag of trail mix, but if he's forgetting things like that, he shouldn't be working the field.

[HopeHoops]

15. I know a guy who has a fetish - stealing Chapsticks. I keep telling him to stop, but....

[bowens43]

19. He should be fired and prosecuted.... nt