Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams looks down court for an open man during a game against Colgate at the Carrier Dome.
(Photo by Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard)
Syracuse University basketball player Michael Carter-Williams was seen shoplifting from Lord & Taylor at Destiny USA late Sunday afternoon and paid the store a $500 fine to settle the matter, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Carter-Williams put a bathrobe and gloves into a backpack while in a fitting room, both sources said.
According to one of the sources, store security saw Carter-Williams go into a fitting room with merchandise and a backpack and then leave the fitting room without the merchandise visible. The activity was captured on the store's security video, the source said.
The security staff at Lord & Taylor detained Carter-Williams as he left the store on the second level of the mall.
The security staffer handcuffed Carter-Williams on the escalator. Photos of Carter-Williams and a plain-clothes security officer circulated on Twitter within minutes of the episode.
Both sources said Carter-Williams signed a form acknowledging the theft and paid the fine with his credit card. The store did not call police and he was not charged.
On Tuesday, Carter-Williams, a sophomore point guard for the No. 4 Orange, told The Post-Standard "the whole thing was really a misunderstanding." He declined to explain the misunderstanding.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim repeated that Friday.
"It's a misunderstanding," Boeheim said. "That's what I was told by Michael. Michael has told me exactly all he needs to tell me. It's his private business. He settled it. I've got to respect that.
"I don't know what information you have," Boeheim said. "Unless the store comes to me, my hands are tied."
Boeheim declined to make Carter-Williams available Friday. "He's said all he's going to say," Boeheim said.
Lord & Taylor's loss prevention manager, Greg Campbell, declined comment when reached Friday afternoon.
A mall security official says Lord & Taylor's handling of the matter was typical.
Syracuse police are called to Destiny 300 to 400 times a year to charge people with petit larceny for shoplifting, said Tim Erwin, director of security at the mall. But most shoplifting cases never get that far, he said.
If the shoplifter is cooperative and admits stealing merchandise, a store's loss prevention officer usually offers to settle the matter with a "civil demand," Erwin said. He was speaking generally and not about the Carter-Williams case, which mall security was not involved in.
Loss prevention officers can't stop someone unless they've witnessed the larceny, either on video or in person, Erwin said. They can't detain someone only on the grounds that they'd seen him come into the store with an empty backpack and leave with a full backpack, he said.
Carter-Williams admitted that he stole $120 worth of merchandise, according to one source. The items included a Polo Ralph Lauren bathrobe priced at $85 and a pair of Polo Ralph Lauren gloves valued at $35.
Lord & Taylor's store policy dictates how to deal with shoplifters, according to one source. In most cases, the police are not called. Instead, a person who admits to shoplifting must pay a civil fine. The fine is five times the value of the merchandise with a cap at $500. When the fine is paid, the accused is released. Shoplifters are not allowed to keep the merchandise.
Since the value of the merchandise that Carter-Williams is alleged to have taken was more than $100, he paid $500, according to one source.
Carter-Williams is also banned from entering any Lord & Taylor store for the next two years, one source said. The store photographed Carter-Williams.
John O'Brien and Donna Ditota contributed to this report. Contact Mike Waters at 470-3086 or mwaters@syracuse.com.