Caught on video: Philadelphia police officer accused of stealing energy drink from 7-Eleven
The 25th District officer has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An investigation is underway after video allegedly shows a Philadelphia police officer shoplifting from a 7-Eleven.
It happened around 10 a.m. last Friday at the convenience store located on the 1100 block of East Luzerne Street in Juniata.
Surveillance video obtained by Action News shows the male 25th District police officer in full uniform walking up to a cooler.
He looks through the items and then grabs what a police report describes as a 12-ounce Celsius kiwi guava energy drink that sells for $2.49 plus tax.
But instead of paying for the item, the video shows the officer simply walking out the door.
A shocked clerk alerted the owner's wife who was also at the counter.
"(The clerk said,) 'hey, the guy, the officer, did not pay for his stuff.' I'm like, 'what?'" recalled Aicha Chajai, the store owner's wife. "I thought maybe he forgot or something, so he keeps walking."
Chajai and her husband went outside the store to let him know he had to pay for the item. They tried to flag him down but he reportedly drove away.
"He ignored us too and he just took off," said the store owner, Maqbool Khokhar.
Khokhar says he was surprised because he is a big supporter of the Philadelphia police. Khokhar immediately contacted an officer he befriended over the years to show him the video.
"He was shocked. He approached his supervisor right away and they want me to make an official report for that," said Khokhar.
A police spokesman says the 25th District officer, whose name they are not releasing because he has not been charged, is under investigation for alleged shoplifting.
The officer has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
Khokhar says shoplifting has been a major problem.
"We're facing so much shoplifting, so much robberies, and so much stealing. Law enforcement is supposed to be here to help us, to protect us, not to take away from us something. So that was very shocking for us," said Khokhar.
Since the incident, the store owner says several police officers have stopped by to apologize for what happened.
