Any person who shall wilfully take possession of any goods, wares or merchandise offered for sale by any store or other mercantile establishment, with the intention of converting the same to his or her use without paying the purchase price thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person willfully concealing un-purchased goods or merchandise of any store or other mercantile establishment, either on the premises or outside of the premises of the store, shall be prima facie presumed to have so concealed the article, with the intention of converting the same to his or her own use without paying the purchase price thereof, and the finding of the un-purchased goods or merchandise concealed upon the person or among the belongings of the person shall be prima facie evidence of willful concealment, and if the person conceals, or causes to be concealed, the un-purchased goods or merchandise upon the person or among the belongings of another, the finding of the same shall also be prima facie evidence of willful concealment on the part of the person so concealing the goods. Persons concealing the goods may be detained in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time until the arrival of the police, and the detention shall not render the merchant or his or her employees criminally or civilly liable for false arrest, false imprisonment or unlawful detention.
(1992 Code, § 9-3-7) (Ord. 31, § 14-7, passed 10-1-1975)