A pregnant mother says she was traumatized by a “horrifying” ordeal at a Honolulu supermarket last week when she and her husband were arrested for stealing sandwiches and had their 2-year-old daughter taken into state custody.
A Monterey couple, Marcin and Nicole Leszczynski, says they forgot to pay for a $5 sandwich with their groceries, but were arrested and had their daughter taken away. The Leszczynski’s child was taken into custody of Child Welfare Services overnight — returned to her parents 18 hours later.
Nicole, 28, and Marcin, 33 and almost eight months pregnant, said they forgot to pay for two sandwiches that together cost $5, and immediately offered to pay cash for the sandwiches. They were handcuffed and searched, transported in custody to a police station, and later released on $50 bail each. But their child stayed in custody of Child Welfare Services for another eighteen hours.
After a week they were informed that the shoplifting charges were dropped.
The Leszczynski’s say they were told they were banned from the store, but Safeway officials now welcome the family back to the store.
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