Boynton Beach Mall Store Drops Shoplifting Charge Against Autistic Boy, 12

The boy, who has Asperger's syndrome, left Spencer Gifts with greeting card in hand

A Boynton Beach gifts store dropped a shoplifting charge against a 12-year-old autistic boy who walked out of the store with a $2.95 greeting card in his hand.

Police said they went to Spencer Gifts at the Boynton Beach Mall at 801 N. Congress Ave. Sunday afternoon after an employee watched the boy walk around the store with the card, “switching the card from hand to hand,” before he left with it.

“The young man did leave the store with merchandise in his possession, and the store associate did stop him,” said Kevin Mahoney, Spencer’s general counsel.

Alex Pfundheller, 20, had the boy come back to the store and called police, according to a police report. His mother, Jacqui Feldman, told the responding officer that her son “suffers from a form of autism and that my have played a role in him forgetting that he had the card in his hand,” and he cried, saying that he would never steal anything.

The officer arrested her son for retail theft, though he did not handcuff him, he wrote in the report.

The arrest generated an extended discussion and many offers of support on the Facebook page of Single Mothers Who Have Children With Autism after Feldman wrote about how angry she was about it there.

After the incident, Feldman contacted Spencer’s corporate office and explained her son’s condition, Mahoney said. He has Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism.

“Certainly understanding his medical condition and with regard to his mother and her request, I immediately agreed to drop the charge” on Tuesday, Mahoney said. “She was very thankful for that and very appreciative.”

He said online discussion did not contribute to Spencer’s decision, and that he spoke with Feldman Tuesday, before there was any media coverage.

For her part, Feldman said in a follow-up Facebook post that she guessed her phone calls to Spencer’s legal department, in addition to calls from media outlets such as the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “were very effective.”

“I love you guys! You gave me the inspiration to fight this on my own,” she told the group. “I don't think my son understands the magnitude of this ... he just asked if he could go to Red Lobster to celebrate.”

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