November 2, 2011 3:12 PM

Pregnant Hawaii mom arrested for stealing $2 sandwiches, state briefly takes daughter away

By
Edecio Martinez
Topics
Daily Blotter

Nicole Leszczynski (right) and her 2-year-old daughter

(Credit: KGMB)

(CBS/AP) HONOLULU - Nicole Leszczynski couldn't imagine that two chicken salad sandwiches would land her and her husband in jail and her 2-year-old daughter in Hawaii state custody. But it happened a week ago, when the 30-weeks-pregnant woman says she forgot to pay for her snack while shopping in a Honolulu supermarket.

Hawaii uh-O!

Leszczynski, 28, and her husband Marcin, 33, were handcuffed, searched then released on $50 bail each. Their ordeal at the police station lasted a few hours, but their daughter Zofia spent the night away from her parents in a case that sparked outrage and forced the Safeway supermarket chain to review the incident.

"That's kind of harsh to go to jail and have your daughter removed from your care for something like this," Nicole told CBS affiliate KGMB.

"It was the most ridiculous chain of events that happened," Leszczynski said while sobbing Monday. "It's still hard to believe what happened."

The family had moved to an apartment near downtown Honolulu from California two weeks ago. Still settling in, they ventured out Wednesday to stock up on groceries, took the bus, got lost, and ended up at a Safeway supermarket.

Famished, the former Air Force staff sergeant picked up the two sandwiches that together cost $5. She openly munched on one while they shopped, saving the wrapper to be scanned at the register later.

But they forgot to pay for the sandwiches as they checked out with about $50 worth of groceries.

"When the security guard questioned us, I was really embarrassed, I was horrified," she said. They were led upstairs, where the couple expected to get a lecture, pay for the sandwiches, and be allowed on their way.

But store managers wouldn't allow them to pay for the sandwiches, she said.

"I asked to talk to a manager and he said it was against their policy to pay for items that left the store," she said. "The security guard said we were being charged with shoplifting."

Four hours later, a police officer arrived and read them their rights. A woman from the state Child Welfare Services arrived to take Zofia away.

The couple was handcuffed and driven separately to police headquarters a few blocks away, where they were searched, had their mug shots taken and then released after paying bail. A police officer escorted them back to the store - which banned them for a year, Leszczynski said - where they picked up their groceries and walked home just before midnight.

Zofia was returned after an 18-hour separation from her parents.

In a statement, Safeway said it's committed to serving families, but "it appears we may not have handled this matter in the best possible way," KGMB reported.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Safeway president of Northern California operations Karl Shroeder called Nicole and apologized.

The couple was initially charged with fourth-degree theft, a petty misdemeanor, according to the city prosecutor's office. However, Safeway now says it will not press charges.



Add a Comment See all 36 Comments
by law90807013f November 7, 2011 3:00 AM EST
A typical executive makes $1M/year excluding bonus.
There are 52 weeks in a year, 40 work hours in a week or 2,400 working minutes in a week.
A typical executive's salary:
$1M/year = $8.01/minute = 4 sandwiches and some crumbs / minute
The above equation explains why executives never had to shoplift or shopeat sandwiches.
Reply to this comment
by jenn2895 November 6, 2011 10:52 PM EST
I will NEVER shop at Safeway. Also, I'm sick to my stomach over the PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA child services keeps causing to young children over bs reasons. This is what happens when government has too much control. I would absolutely sue the child agency ! !
Reply to this comment
by reubenrcbs November 6, 2011 1:03 PM EST
This whole event is so symptomatic of the ills of our society today. No one takes responsibility for anything and relies on authority for everything. King Solomon turned over in his grave on this one. Let's say that the family went to a different store every day to shop, ate a sandwich there, and forgot to pay. $5 for 365 days ='s $1825, just short of grand larceny, so let's say they had a slightly better sandwich every other day. What the hey, they deserve it. OK, so now we have grand larceny and the family could go to jail. Wow. But they didn't do this. They ate a sandwich by mistake. Oh! You want to pay for it now. OK. Good, we're all square. Sorry about that. My mistake. That's OK. You made good and everyone can make a mistake. Actually, we shouldn't allow eating in the store. It's probably not a healthy thing, since this is not a restaurant and doesn't have those kinds of regimens needed to address public consumption. I guess we do it to sucker people in who might be hungry and then catch them at the door, if they forget to pay. We have some one up stairs watching that, in case you wondered. I don't know why we do this. I guess so many people are ripping us off all the time, we had to figure something out. If we were to try and be sensible, people would be making jerks out of us, so our policy is, in short, "call the cops," who, by the way, get free sandwiches whenever they drop in for a bust. Justice, plain and simple. Life goes on and the little child will be talking about it in "show and tell," until she gets out of graduate school and will always look funny at chickens. They still have "show and tell, right?" Nah! They probably dropped that too, since you never know what could come out of a child's mouth now days. Just in case you might be confused by now, I want you to know exactly where I stand on this issue. I lived in Germany for some years, and it was not a crime to steal food there. I guess if you were hungry and didn't have any money, what were you going to do? People are different here. They don't get hungry and they never make mistakes.

Chicken sandwiches, $5.

Human and Public cost, $2400
(in chicken sandwich terms that is roughly 960 chicken sandwiches)

Store personnel hours, police officer pay (and free sandwich), human services worker pay, custodial care costs, person sitting up in the bird cage pay, camera cost, transportation to and from police station, transportation to and from custodial care, clerical services, gas and electric, newspaper writer's pay, time on Internet, posting (but that's free) and, of course, misc.
Reply to this comment
by throwawayhandle November 6, 2011 11:04 AM EST
To aurytegetalife: Two totally different business models, but of course you knew that. You just have no actual argument as to why it should be all right for someone to eat food they haven't paid for while they wander through the grocery store.

"by aurytegetalife November 4, 2011 3:38 AM EDT
So when you go to a sit down restaurant you and your family pays first then eat? Cause you did say that your family never consume a product(food)before you pay for it(own it)."
Reply to this comment
by injuntrouble November 5, 2011 11:36 AM EDT
Safeway should boycotted for actions like this. They are overpriced. they don't treat their employees well and now they are turning on their customers? We should put them out of their misery, by putting them out of business.
Reply to this comment
by throwawayhandle November 6, 2011 11:05 AM EST
And I suppose you would treat your employees and customers better? Well, all except for them durn Injuns, eh?
by AParent November 4, 2011 4:31 AM EDT
A man stole a sandwich. A woman stole a sandwich. Lock the thieves up and prosecute them. What is so hard to understand. They STOLE.
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by elvisfan67 November 7, 2011 4:14 PM EST
I agree completely, If they were that hungry,they should have stopped what your doing, go purchase what it is they are going to eat and keep the receipt with them. Does not matter what the situation is, you have to take the time to do what is right, eating first and paying later in a grocery store is theft.
by American_Osterich November 3, 2011 8:31 AM EDT
These people were wrong and the manager was wrong. They should have paid for the food before leaving the store and there would not have been any issue (you pay for food after eating at restaurants). The manager should have allowed them to pay and save a lot of time and money. There are many common sense ways to handle minor issues.

Is Safeway going to reimburse the community for the costs of the arrest and booking? Is Safeway going to reimburse the community for the costs of child services? This costs the taxpayers a lot more than the %5. Is Safeway going to reimburse anyone who was harmed because these officers were tied up over a %5 dispute?
Reply to this comment
by elvisfan67 November 7, 2011 4:14 PM EST
Yes I agree....
by vielmann November 3, 2011 3:18 AM EDT
Totally ridiculous. If it was only two sandwiches and they purchased everything else, then there was no reason to blow it out of proportion. Have them pay for the bleedin sandwiches and be on their way. Stupid for Safeway this whole fiasco. And to the rest of you gripers, yes, it is possible to forget to pay for something. Quit with the superior, all knowing, self-righteous BS.
Reply to this comment
by mari_621 November 3, 2011 2:34 AM EDT
Geee...I would love to eat a sandwich while shopping and then forget to pay for it. This story is BS and they were prosecuted for stealing. They were arrogant and got what they deserved. Just think if we all did that. What about the 1000's of homeless we now have here? What if they did that???? They shouldn't have moved here if they were not prepared.
Reply to this comment
by TIREDOFTHEWHINNING November 3, 2011 12:21 AM EDT
Why is everyone whinning about her being pregnat, where is it Safeways fault she took seriosly what was poked at her in fun. it's still no excuse for theft. and as for others saying she was in the military, when in the military you are held to a higher standard than normal civilians so by that alone they should have known better. it's funny how they could remember to pay for all the other stuff they grabbed but conviniently forgot about the sandwiches they ate while shopping, YEA RIGHT. you got caught, quit blaming others for your stupidity and deal with it. (can't stand a thief or a liar)
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