Shortly after 17-year-old Terry (who asked that her real name not be used) moved to Colorado Springs, her new friends urged her to skip choir practice and come to the mall. “We started trying on clothes at this one store, and someone suggested we take them,” she says, “so I shoved a $10 belt in my bag.” As she walked toward the exit, her cell phone rang. “It was my mom, asking if I wanted to go out to dinner,” says Terry. At that moment, store security surrounded the teens. “I have to go,” Terry told her mom. “I think I’m being arrested.”
The hours that followed were a nightmare. “They escorted us into the security room to wait for the police,” says Terry. “I was officially charged with taking $75 worth of stuff, the amount all of us stole, even though my item was only $10. The worst was when my mom arrived. She kept saying I’d never do such a thing. And they were like, ‘Listen, lady, we have it on tape.’ I finally had to say, ‘No, Mom, it’s true. I did it….'” Yahoo! Lifestyle