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Nov 12, 2023

"I'm banned from Walmart over a bag of Reese's," Houston

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A Houston-area woman is upset after she says she was banned from Walmart stores for accidentally forgetting to scan a bag of candy at a self-checkout counter. She started recording with her cellphone when security took her into a back room.

MONTGOMERY, Texas - A Houston-area woman is upset after she says she was banned from Walmart stores for accidentally forgetting to scan a bag of candy at a self-checkout counter.

"I didn't want to steal the Reese's," said Paige Warren. "The second [security] stopped me, I was like, is something wrong? If something didn't scan, I’d be happy to go back and pay."

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The incident took place at the Walmart store off Highway 105 in Montgomery last March. Warren says she had run into the store to buy items to make Rice Krispie treats. She purchased roughly $31 worth of items. However, as she was leaving, security stopped her over a bag of Reese's that Warren says she mistakenly didn't scan.

"The security guy stopped me and said, can I see your receipt," recalled Warren. "He was like, you didn't scan your bag of Reese's. [Then], proceeded to take me to the back Walmart holding cell room."

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Warren started recording with her cellphone when security took her into a back room. The heated exchange took roughly an hour.

"[Security] specifically asked me, have I ever been in a room like this before," said Warren. "[I was thinking] in my head, is he accusing me of being a criminal?"

We spoke with Houston attorney, Miriah Soliz from the Soliz Law Firm, about what happened. Warren isn't pursing legal action, but Soliz believes she could.

"[Walmart] didn't have a reasonable response," said Soliz. "[She spent] over an hour in the back of a Walmart, for stealing less than $5 worth of goods. She may have a criminal injury claim actually for how they treated her, or [for] intentional inflection of emotional distress. She was probably very concerned she may be charged with theft over this act she didn't intentionally do."

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Warren says Walmart banned her from shopping at their stores. Now, she hopes store workers change how they handle self-checkout issues in the future.

"I’m banned from Walmart over a bag of Reese's," said Warren. "I hope maybe they’ll change their practices."

FOX 26 reached out to Walmart. As of Friday evening, we hadn't received a response.

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