PLOVER — The theft of 18 elastic hair ties worth $2.45 from a grocery store has the village snarled in a nearly three-year legal battle that has cost it nearly $15,000. It also threatens to change the way police deal with evidence in simple shoplifting cases.
The attorney representing the alleged shoplifter calls the ordeal “government run amok” over a crime with a punishment of no more than a $250 fine.
The village attorney characterizes the fight — Can police take pictures of stolen goods and use the photos as evidence? — as important to every Wisconsin law enforcement agency that investigates retail theft. . . .
[A]ll sides are waiting for the 4th District Court of Appeals in Madison to make the next ruling.
Details here from The Post-Crescent.