Living beyond his means and wanting to do more than his income allowed allegedly led a former Minneapolis teacher of the year to steal $34,000 from a teachers’ union fund, according to court documents.
Larry Arden Lightner, 46, rural Backus, was charged by summons in Crow Wing County District Court with six counts of felony theft by check.

So what would make someone do something like this?  Was it greed or compulsion?  Likely this man was simply living well beyond his means.  Often with theft, the stealing is done because the person feels they need to do it out of necessity. The reality is most people can live with in their means if they try.

I'm confident Mr. Lightner will have to take a theft education class along with his other consequences

Tinley Park police found heroin and mushrooms in the car of a 30-year-old Oak Lawn man during a search for stolen goods they suspected he took from a Super Kmart last week.  Not a great idea.

According to police, the man had two hard drives, a pair of headphones, a Texas Instruments Calculator and a bottle of cologne in his car after allegedly stealing them from the store. The items had a combined value of about $445

While it is unclear what the court will do in this case, it is likely he will have to take both alcohol awareness classes and theft and shoplifting classes.

Last week, police arrested three men who are accused of purchasing the stolen goods and reselling them at two comfortableness markets they operated in Chandler and Phoenix. The arrests culminated a three-month undercover investigation for the duration of which Safeway and Fry’s grocery stores supplied police with loads of the most desirable items to trade as stolen merchandise.

For most department store or grocery store theives, they steal because they either believe they are really hurting anyone, or they simply don't care about the impact their stealing might have on the business.  Either way, crimes such as these could have been avoided by simply taking an educational class as part of risk prevention, such as an online theft class.

Prevention is always the key to change, and gaining skills to stop a habit might be one of your first steps.

What many people don't realize is that theft and shoplifting are impulses that are often associated with an impulse control disorder.  As a licensed psychotherapist, I have been treating people with these disorders for many years.  What I have come to find out is that gaining some basic skills in an educational format also seems to help.  Such programs include theft classes online.  While theft is at it greatest in larger metropolitan cities such as New York or Chicago, it is still a major issue even in small towns.  Parents, teachers and law enforcement should deeply consider alternative education as a diversion method.

Theft education and diversion programs can often be hard to find.  Mostly due to a lack of funding and limited training and education available to providers.  Below is a list of our California online theft and shoplifting classes. 

California Online Theft Classes