A TikTok video from @alexi.marie has drawn more than 219,000 likes and 3,600 comments after describing an incident at Walmart in which a U.S. Marshal watched her check out following a cashier’s failure to scan a car seat.
Alexi connected the encounter to an incident about a year earlier, when she and her boyfriend were stopped by loss prevention after eating popcorn chicken without paying for it during a $650 shopping trip.
She recalled that loss-prevention employees approached them as they left the store. According to Alexi, they said, “That popcorn chicken, we seen that,” then photographed her and her boyfriend and warned them that another incident would lead to an arrest.
During a recent Walmart visit, Alexi bought a car seat for her daughter along with seven or eight other items, including laundry detergent. She was talking to a friend on the phone during checkout and did not notice that the cashier had rung up everything except the car seat.
“I’m ringing everything, she’s ringing everything up. I’m on the phone with my friend, I’m not paying attention,”
Alexi said the cashier noticed the mistake after she had already inserted her card. Concerned about possible repercussions from the earlier popcorn chicken incident, she asked that the car seat be scanned properly.
She then noticed a man standing behind her in line with a carton of milk and tin foil. He placed his items down and showed her a badge while the car seat issue was being resolved.
“I’m a Marshal,”
Alexi questioned why a U.S. Marshal would be involved in a dispute connected to popcorn chicken.
“Y’all didn’t send lost prevention? Y’all didn’t send the police? Y’all sent the Marshal over some popcorn chicken?”
She said the experience left her shaken and unwilling to risk another problem at the store.
“I am scared straight when I tell you I was crying over the popcorn chicken,”
Alexi also said she sensed Walmart employees following her during later visits. In response, she began proactively asking for help finding items. She argued that the attention was disproportionate to the amount of merchandise she was accused of taking, noting that other shoppers could also be carrying unpaid items.
She acknowledged responsibility for the original incident but said the response felt excessive.
“I did the crime, and I didn’t have to do the time. But now y’all have scared me straight,”
Commenters share Walmart food stories
Reactions to the video included people sharing their own experiences with unpaid food while shopping. One commenter said:
“Girl I always eat popcorn chicken while shopping but I just scan the empty container.”
Another commenter asked for clarification about Walmart’s popcorn chicken:
“Walmart has popcorn chicken cooked and U can just grab it? I’ve never seen that” [sic].
A separate commenter described a similar experience in which their partner was stopped over food while other shoplifting went unaddressed:
“No bc me and my mom were in the store and got a 5 finger discount and my bf walked out before us eating some popcorn chicken and they stopped him for that chicken and didn’t trip off us” [sic].
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the identity of the man described as a U.S. Marshal, Walmart’s internal loss-prevention practices or the specific store location involved. The details are based on @alexi.marie’s account shared on TikTok.
