OUTRAGE BORN
Pregnant with twins, suspected of shoplift
Sherell Bates is pregnant with twins, but a Staples store manager in North Carolina had some doubts.
Bates was questioned by a police officer at a Pineville store on Friday after the manager asked him to speak with the very pregnant shopper. She was asked what was under her shirt.
“Initially, I thought he was joking, so my response was, ‘Twins,' ” Bates told TV station WSOC. “I'm 34 weeks with twins. I'm having a boy and a girl."
Her reply did not satisfy the officer, she said, so he repeated the question.
“At that point, to avoid him asking me again, I actually lifted my shirt just a little bit, just to expose my belly, so he could see that I'm just a regular pregnant person buying school supplies,” she told WSOC.
Cops said the officer approached Bates because the manager believed she could have been “concealing merchandise.”
Bates told the station that the manager told her that “a lot of people” had been hiding items in their clothing. Staples said in a statement that the manager “mistakenly” thought a customer was shoplifting and asked a police officer to speak with her.
“After a quick conversation, the issue was resolved, the manager apologized to the customer and refunded their transaction due to the inconvenience,” read the statement. “At Staples, we want all customers to feel welcome in our store, and work with our store associates to try and foster an inclusive culture. As an organization, we would like to apologize to the customer if that was not the case in this instance.”
Bates may not be ready to accept the apology. She is mulling legal action.
“You pretty much jumped the gun without any type of evidence, except my stomach is large,” she told WSOC. “That's not fair. No mom should have to go through that.”