Wine shop owner confronts intoxicated shoplifter on Jackson Street, gets bottle of Jack back

Christine Crocker doesn't have a lot of patience for people who steal bottles of booze from her store.

She's posted the mug shots of shoplifters inside her store and yesterday she chased one down Main Street onto Jackson and confronted him.

Crocker owns YNGodess Shop in Batavia.

Yesterday, at about 2 p.m., a man came into the store and walked up to the counter with a bottle of whiskey he wanted to buy.

The man was obviously intoxicated, Crocker said, and so she told him she couldn't sell him the bottle.

"But I'm not driving," he said, according to Crocker.

"It doesn't matter. It's the law. I can't sell to you," Crocker told him.

The man said he was sorry and walked out.

"I was still concerned for other people in the city that he could be driving while he was loaded," Crocker said.

Crocker looked out her front door soon after he left. At that point, she said, she saw him pull a bottle of Jack Daniel's Honey from his pocket.

She chased him down and caught up with him on Jackson Street. He tried hiding the bottle behind his back, denying he had it, she said.

She told him she knew he had it and then he admitted he did and gave it back.

"Prepare to be arrested," Crocker told the man.

At that point, the man took off running.

Crocker returned to the store, called the police and officers responded immediately. 

Later today, Crocker said, she will be providing police with surveillance photos to help police identify the suspect.