Article Wal Mart gun- and force-related incidents

[MeMelYup]

It is not shoplifting until a person has passed the last point to pay for an item before exiting the store. Concealment can be identified as the intent to deprive the owner of an item. Changing a price tag is changing of a writing, a felony. Most county/city attorneys will not prosecute it a such because they must prove intent, they reduce it to theft.

[srothstein]

Could you tell me where you find the definition of shoplifting as requiring it to be past the last chance to pay? I cannot find that in the law or in any case law I am familiar with. I have heard it before as an urban legend but was taught in the academy that it was not true (SAPD Academy in 1987 - I will stipulate things might have changed since then and I could be wrong). I also have no knowledge of a Texas law on changing of a writing and would appreciate a code section to refer to.