'B***h, new laws!' California shoplifting suspect surprised stealing is now a felony

SEAL BEACH, Calif. - An alleged shoplifter got quite the surprise when she found out some shoplifting offenses are now considered a felony in California.

"It's a felony?" video shows one of the women saying.

"B*tch new laws!" the suspect next to her replies as they sit handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. "Stealing is a felony and this Orange County b*tch. They don’t play."

Surveillance video shared Sunday by the Seal Beach Police Department shows three women walking into an Ulta Beauty store, perusing the shelves, then nonchalantly leaving with around $648 worth of stolen merchandise.

SUGGESTED: Business owners support Prop 36 amid lootings

Another video allegedly shows the same three women going inside a Kohl's store where they allegedly left with around $1,000 worth of merchandise.

Bodycam video shows police officers chasing the women and ultimately arresting them.

"A friendly reminder that Proposition 36, which increases punishments for some retail theft and drug possession offenses, went into effect Wednesday morning in California," the Seal Beach PD wrote on Instagram.

"Don't steal in Seal!"

SUGGESTED: The debate over Prop 36 in California

Why voters backed Prop. 36

Prop. 36 was a rightward swing of the California political pendulum – a decade ago, voters eased criminal penalties for certain crimes under 2014’s Proposition 47, which was pitched as both a cost-saving measure and a more effective way to combat crime by focusing dollars on treatment instead of incarceration.

Then, during the pandemic, the rate of shoplifting and commercial burglaries skyrocketed, especially in Los Angeles, Alameda, San Mateo and Sacramento counties. Statewide, reported shoplifting of merchandise worth up to $950 soared 28% over the past five years, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s the highest observed level since 2000.

SUGGESTED: Explaining California's Prop. 36

Combining shoplifting with commercial burglaries, the institute’s researchers found that total reported thefts were 18% higher than in 2019.

SUGGESTED: California Prop 36 explained: Increasing penalties for theft and drug trafficking

Proponents said the initiative is necessary to close legal loopholes that have made it challenging for law enforcement to punish shoplifters and drug dealers.

Opponents, including Democratic state leaders and social justice groups, said it will disproportionately imprison poor people and those with substance-use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for resale online. The initiative will also take away drug and mental health funding that comes from savings from incarcerating fewer people.

Californians for Safety and Justice, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce prison and jail spending, estimated that Prop. 36 will add 130,000 more people to California jails each year, about 100,000 of them held in jail before trial and about 30,000 serving one-year sentences after their convictions.