Cogster1
Member
I am trying to find out what rights a merchant in MI has to search me or my bags when leaving a store.
I know this has been discussed in several threads already like this thread
Lectured. That thread has a link pointing to a law in VA with an answer, although it creates other legal questions VA law.
I’m looking for a similar law or lack of one in MI after my bag was searched at a local grocery store. I’ve searched this site -MI legislature
with no luck yet. I have never attempted to find a law regarding a specific situation so if I should be searching elsewhere, please let me know.
When I entered the store my wife stopped at the restroom. I was waiting just inside the entrance for her and saw a family with several bags set off the alarm. The greeter spent at least 3 minutes going through each bag trying to find what set off the alarm. The greeter was an older man who was apologetic about the delay, but wasn’t going to quit searching until he found the problem.
We only needed a few things so it didn’t take us long. We used the self-checkout service and had a single bag of groceries when we left. My wife had the bag and set off the alarm. I had no intention of stopping since I’d paid for the items and didn’t feel like wasting 3 minutes to let some guy go through my stuff. Unfortunately, I was holding my wife’s hand and she stopped. (I didn’t think it would be good for the rest of my night if I dragged her out.) So the greeter spent the next few minutes looking for the offending item in my bag. He did finally scan/de-magnetize the right thing and we left.
If he hadn’t found anything in the bag did I have to let him pat me down next? (And the gun related part of this post I was carrying.) Could I have kept walking in the first place? Should I have refused the search?
I know this has been discussed in several threads already like this thread
Lectured. That thread has a link pointing to a law in VA with an answer, although it creates other legal questions VA law.
I’m looking for a similar law or lack of one in MI after my bag was searched at a local grocery store. I’ve searched this site -MI legislature
with no luck yet. I have never attempted to find a law regarding a specific situation so if I should be searching elsewhere, please let me know.
When I entered the store my wife stopped at the restroom. I was waiting just inside the entrance for her and saw a family with several bags set off the alarm. The greeter spent at least 3 minutes going through each bag trying to find what set off the alarm. The greeter was an older man who was apologetic about the delay, but wasn’t going to quit searching until he found the problem.
We only needed a few things so it didn’t take us long. We used the self-checkout service and had a single bag of groceries when we left. My wife had the bag and set off the alarm. I had no intention of stopping since I’d paid for the items and didn’t feel like wasting 3 minutes to let some guy go through my stuff. Unfortunately, I was holding my wife’s hand and she stopped. (I didn’t think it would be good for the rest of my night if I dragged her out.) So the greeter spent the next few minutes looking for the offending item in my bag. He did finally scan/de-magnetize the right thing and we left.
If he hadn’t found anything in the bag did I have to let him pat me down next? (And the gun related part of this post I was carrying.) Could I have kept walking in the first place? Should I have refused the search?
