Hours in a Cell After a Mistake at the Self-Checkout: It Happened to Marianne

Imagine this: you’re standing at the self-checkout, scanning your groceries, and before you know it, you’re being detained. It happened to Marianne, who suddenly ended up spending hours in a cell because of a mistake at the self-checkout. What started as an innocent shopping trip ended in a nightmare. How could this happen?

“At first, we almost couldn’t stop laughing”

Marianne and her daughter Fauve were busy scanning their groceries when they accidentally failed to scan a few items properly. According to the women, it was a mistake, but the Albert Heijn employees saw it as theft. They had to go to the supermarket’s office to review the security footage. The supermarket manager and the security guard were certain: the women had stolen something. Marianne: “At first, we almost couldn’t stop laughing because the situation was so ridiculous. In the footage, we saw that we had held the chocolate bar in front of the scanner and then the lettuce.”

Paying a fine

The security guard suggested that they pay a fine of €181. But Marianne refused, and the police were called in. “I said: call them, I have nothing to hide.” Before they knew it, they were taken in for questioning. At the police station, all their belongings were taken away and they were searched. Afterwards, they were each placed in their own cell.

For six hours

After spending more than four hours (!) at the police station, they were questioned by two detectives and were allowed to go home at midnight by the assistant public prosecutor. In total, they spent around six hours at the police station. A few days after their arrest, Marianne and Fauve received a letter from the public prosecutor stating that they had wrongly been designated as suspects and that there would be no further prosecution.

More and more self-checkout theft

It is no secret that more and more people are stealing at self-checkouts. It has been a growing problem for much longer. Police figures show that the number of registered shoplifting cases increased by more than 46 percent between 2021 and 2023. This concerns shoplifting in general, not just at self-checkouts.

Also read:

• Wow, Albert Heijn’s self-checkouts cannot be trusted
• Why some people should not be allowed to use a self-checkout
• More and more theft caused by self-checkouts: this is how supermarkets are fighting back

Image: Albert Heijn, source: RTL Nieuws