Alleged California shoplifters shocked to learn stealing now a felony

Police in California released a video of a trio of alleged shoplifters who were shocked to find out that the penalty for their crime had recently changed. 

In the viral surveillance video shared by the Seal Beach Police Department on Sunday, three women can be seen walking into an Ulta Beauty store, browsing the shelves, then casually exiting the business with what police said was nearly $650 worth of stolen merchandise.

“… a friendly reminder that Proposition 36, which increases punishments for some retail theft and drug possession offenses, went into effect Wednesday morning in California,” the Seal Beach Police Department wrote in the caption of the video on their Instagram account.

The video shows the women entering a Kohls store and allegedly stealing more merchandise, totaling nearly $1,000 in stolen goods.

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Bodycam video then shows police officers chasing after the women and ultimately arresting them.

“It’s a felony?” one of the women asks the other in the back of the patrol car.

“B—h new laws,” the woman responds. “Stealing is a felony and this Orange County b—h. They don’t play.”

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The women were later identified by police as Destiny Bender, 24, and Deanna Hines, 24, both from Long Beach, and Michelle Pitts, 26, of Signal Hill.

All three individuals were booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of Grand Theft, Conspiracy to Commit a Crime and Resisting Arrest.

Police shared a friendly reminder along with the video.

“It undoes some of the changes voters made with a 2014 ballot measure that turned certain nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors, effectively shortening prison sentences and leading to a spike in retail theft and crime,” police said. “Here in Seal Beach we never believed in the cite and release program, but this new proposition only strengthens our commitment to combatting Organized Retail Theft. Remember folks, don’t steal in Seal.”

Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, sought to undo portions of Proposition 47 by increasing penalties for some crimes. It was overwhelmingly passed in California, reversing some billionaire George Soros-backed soft-on-crime policies.

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When Proposition 47 passed in 2014, it downgraded most thefts from felonies to misdemeanors if the amount stolen was under $950, “unless the defendant had prior convictions of murder, rape, certain sex offenses, or certain gun crimes.”

Progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, backed by Soros, helped author Proposition 47, and lost his seat to challenger Nathan Hochman in November. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom remained adamantly opposed to the effort to undo portions of Proposition 47, saying it “takes us back to the 1980s, mass incarceration.”

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]