Is that just your own personal moral judgement or a legal assessment? Because I don't think this will actually work in practice when the police are called for property damage.
Are we talking about the US now? Because I’m pretty sure that where I live (Germany), if the stuff you break is valuable enough, police will definitely arrest you if you try to leave without paying after breaking something.
Depends on where you are. Many cities have under resourced police departments that have reputations for ignoring and refusing to investigate non violent crime.
That’s a fact, not a personal opinion. Unless the damage was done in malice it’s not a crime. It’s the owners negligence for not protecting their property
No need to downvote just because y’all don’t know the law, lol!
> Unless the damage was done in malice it’s not a crime. It’s the owners negligence for not protecting their property
Well that’s just wrong, the damage itself is not a crime but the leaving without paying part is. If I accidentally fall onto your parked car and leave a dent, do you think I can just leave because it wasn’t intentional?
Stores and public places are different things, when you let customers touch your merchandise that’s your liability. You don’t have to like it or agree with it, but that’s the law.
The law generally puts responsibility on the party that should know better, which is the professional.