One of the most basic forms of crime is theft - taking something that isn't yours. It's a common petty crime among bullies, stealing lunch money or food from other students, or robbing video stores and what have you.
But sometimes, theft can be a completely accidental thing. Perhaps one has found something they'd long been looking for and puts it into their pocket so as not to lose it, then forgets to pay when leaving the store. Or if they're working in retail, they stick a misplaced item in their apron and accidentally leave without re-shelving it. Whatever the case, the character has accidentally committed theft, and the consequences vary depending on the situation.
Can sometimes lead to a Cassandra Truth when the character didn't intentionally steal the item, but no one believes them. Compare Mistaken for Thief when a character is mistakenly thought to be a thief. See also Accidental Kidnapping for when what accidentally gets stolen is a person.
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Examples:
Comic Books
- In an issue of Archie Comics, Jughead gets some money from his bank account, but then belatedly realises that the ATM was glitching out and giving him too much money. He fears that the money is someone else's.
Film — Live-Action
- In Home Alone, Kevin goes to buy a toothbrush at the pharmacy. While there he runs into old man Marley. Kevin backs away in fear, then runs away while still holding the toothbrush, leading to one of the employees calling him a shoplifter.
- My Cousin Vinny: In a convenience store, Bill pockets a tuna can because his arms are full and forgets about it until after he and Stan have already left. Not long afterwards, the clerk is found shot to death. As the prime suspects, the two are taken to the police station, where they are put in a police lineup, questioned, and subsequently arrested. They think it's for shoplifting the tuna can, and comment on how excessive the punishment is.
Literature
- In the Diary of a Wimpy Kid installment "Double Down", Greg and Maddox can't find a tiny LEGO brick that belongs to the latter. Just when Greg is about to go home, Maddox notices the brick stuck to Greg's elbow and accuses him of stealing it, not willing to believe that it was an accident.
- The central plot of The Leaky Establishment by David Langford is Tappen discovering that, despite all the security systems in the Nuclear Utilisation Technology Centre, he has managed to accidentally take plutonium home with him, and trying to work out how on Earth he can get it back through the security systems, since telling his bosses what happened is unthinkable.
Live-Action TV
- One episode of Clarissa Explains It All sees Clarissa accidentally walking out of a store in a bustier after trying it on and forgetting to remove it afterwards. She spends the whole episode debating how to return the bustier without getting accused of shoplifting.
- In the Friends episode "The One With the Ring", Chandler finds the perfect engagement ring, and asks Phoebe to keep an eye on it while he gets his wallet. Phoebe amuses herself by trying on an absurd amount of jewlery, and then realises someone's just bought the ring while she was distracted. She runs after the buyer and immediately sets off the security system, with barred doors slamming down on both sides of the atrium. This is all sorted out by the time Chandler gets back, but when he asks how she managed to lose the ring, she snaps "They put me in jail!"
- Full House: DJ gets a royal blue sweater from Danny that she really loves. After it accidentally gets destroyed, Stephanie goes to the store and finds another sweater and takes it, under the guise of "Buy now, pay later". Stephanie is unaware that this only applies to credit card purchases — and she actually shoplifted when she gives it to DJ.
- Good Luck Charlie had the episode "Charlie Did It!" where baby Charlie grabbed a pair of sunglasses from a rack right as Teddy and Gabe were leaving the store, triggering the alarms. The manager has a grudge against Gabe, so he calls the cops and detains Teddy and Gabe in his office.
- In an episode of Sister, Sister, during a field trip to the museum, Roger accidentally takes the statue of an Ancient Egyptian love goddess. He decides to hold on to it when he discovers it makes girls fall for him, but decides to ask the neighbors, Tia, Tamara, Lisa, and Ray, to help him give it back when the police release his sketch on the news.
Western Animation
- 3Below: When the trio of aliens have just arrived in Arcadia and try to pass as humans, they don't understand the concept of Earth money yet. When Krel is in a music store and sees a record he likes, he simply takes it and walks out. Though he gets accused of shoplifting, the agent that comes to the scene simply makes him return the record and lets him get off with a warning.
Detective Scott: Do we have a problem here?
Shop Girl: He just shoplifted that.
Krel: Impossible. That shop is far too heavy to be lifted. - Arthur:
- Sort of in the season five segment "Nerves of Steal." Buster wants to get one of the new Cybertoys but they are too expensive, so he resorts to stealing one by placing it in Arthur's backpack, making the theft unintentional on Arthur's part (since he's the one who left the store with it) but intentional on Buster's.
- In the season six segment "D.W.'s Backpack Mishap," when the kids flee the pool due to rain, D.W. mistakenly steals one of the Tibble Twins' backpacks (and vice versa).
- In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Harley's Holiday", Harley Quinn, freshly released from prison and intent on leaving her criminal life behind, decides to go clothes shopping. Unfortunately, she hurries off with her new dress right after purchasing it, not waiting for the clerk to remove the anti-shoplifting tag. A guard tries to get her attention, but this scares her and she starts running, setting off the store alarm. At the end of the episode, after she's sent back to Arkham, Batman gives her the dress because she did pay for it.
- Subverted in an episode of Cow and Chicken. After a theft detector goes off indicating Cow apparently stole something unknowingly, she and Chicken are chased throughout the episode by the red guy. When she goes through the detector again, it doesn't go off on her but does for the red guy, leading to the latter's arrest. It turns out the detector had been broken for years.
- Fanboy and Chum Chum: In "Dollar Day'', Fanboy and Chum Chum go to the Frosty Mart to buy Frosty Freezy Freeze for one dollar, but Chum Chum spends their last dollar on an arcade machine right as they are supposed to make their payment. The duo are horrified by the thought of becoming "stealers" and spend the episode trying to find a way to pay. Luckily for them, a robot from the future that Fanboy mentioned wanting to build earlier in the episode arrives with a dollar to pay for the Frosty Freezy Freeze.
- In the King of the Hill episode "Cops and Robert," Hank bumps into a meek man named Barry Rollins. Hank thinks the man is trying to pickpocket him and demands Barry give him what Hank thinks is his wallet. After Barry runs off, Hank looks more closely and realizes he has inadvertently mugged Barry and taken his wallet. Later on, Hank tries to clear up the misunderstanding and return it to Barry — but Barry, feeling victimized all these years, snaps and goes after Hank with a baseball bat.
- Phineas and Ferb: In "Flop Starz", Candace drags Linda out of a store to show her a building with a poster for Phineas and Ferb's new band (the building gets destroyed before Linda can see it). Linda was trying on one of the store's jackets when she was dragged out, so a security guard chases after them and tells Linda that she has to pay for the jacket she's wearing.
- In the The Simpsons fourth season episode "Marge in Chains", Marge is arrested for accidentally stealing a bottle of bourbon, and her time in prison sends the town into chaos.
- In an episode of Spongebob Squarepants, SpongeBob and Patrick borrow a balloon without asking but have the intention of returning it. However, when it pops and they can't fix it, they realise that they can't return it and thus it is no longer borrowed, but stolen. Subverted when it turns out that the merchants were giving away the balloons for free anyway.
