A woman who admitted she attempted to shoplift fabric softener from a New York City Duane Reade claims she was “manhandled” by a security guard after she forked over the product and tried to exit the store, according to a report.

Following the alleged incident on Wednesday, the woman, who calls herself “Jackie,” spoke to the Daily Mail in front of the store near 4th Avenue and East 14th Street in Manhattan. 

“Like, my whole thing is, is that they put hands on you when they’re not allowed to touch you. They’re not allowed to physically touch you,” Jackie said, per the video of her interview. 

Jackie noted she was leaving with the fabric softener in her purse when the security guard stopped her and asked her to remove the product from her bag. Jackie told the Mail that she handed over the fabric softener that she planned to steal for her laundry before the guard allegedly grabbed her and took her to a back room where she was given a document that bars her from entering any Duane Reade in New York state.

“I said, ‘no, you can’t do that. I gave you back your property. I did not leave. I was in the store still when I gave you back your stuff, and you are not letting me leave the store,'” she recounted, according to the Mail’s video. 

Security guards in New York have a right to detain suspected shoplifters as long as the detainment is done reasonably, the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis and Associates notes. Per the law offices, in addition to using excessive force, like choking, unreasonable detainments include:

  • Detaining you for an unreasonably long time
  • Waiting an unreasonably long time before contacting the police
  • Verbally abusing you by using offensive language such as racial slurs or threats

Jackie also told the Mail that “taking stuff is hard.” 

“Whenever you try to steal something, it’s a 50/50 shot that you’ll get caught. But usually, you get caught,” she explained. 

Following her bizarre interview, she again confronted the store’s security with her boyfriend and continued to protest that the guard broke the law, the Mail noted. 

The alleged incident comes as crime has jumped substantially in New York City this year. From January 1, when Democrat Mayor Eric Adams was sworn in, through April 3, robberies are up 47.2 percent, burglaries are up 30.8 percent, grand larceny is up 56.6 percent, and petit larceny climbed 38.6 percent, compared to the same period in 2021, NYPD’s crime statistics show.