Minneapolis woman sees two teens locked in a gas station after allegedly shoplifting. Then she decides its the shopkeeper who needs a lesson

People on TikTok are divided over an incident involving a gas station employee and two teens who were locked in the shop after allegedly shoplifting. The situation was recorded by another woman who advised the employee to let the children out and while some netizens think she was in the right, others agree with the employee.

The video was shared by @jypsyhussle to TikTok on June 7. “I saw these little boys locked inside the gas station so my natural reaction was to call the police,” she says in the video, as she shows what looks to be a teen standing in the shop behind a closed door. The two teens were accused of shoplifting from the store, allegedly prompting the employee to lock them in.

The woman explains that she called the cops and shows herself dialling 911 and speaking to the police as she says “they need to be over here arresting them because you cannot lock people inside of a store.” Although the police did not show up, the employee eventually let the teens out of the store after allegedly keeping them locked inside the store for over 30 minutes.

The woman then walks into the store to speak with the employee, telling him, “that’s illegal.” The man responds, arguing that he’s “just doing my job.” The woman claims that he did not need to lock the children in the store, saying all he needed to do was write a report for the police. She also claimed that the business would “write it off in your taxes anyway.”

People online are divided

In the comment section on TikTok people commended the woman for intervening in the situation. “Thank you for not ignoring this situation,” wrote one viewer. “You were at the right place at the right time! Thank you,” another person added. It seems most agreed that the woman had done the right thing by intervening in the situation.

Elsewhere on the internet people saw a completely different story. One person on X stated that the woman had “threatened a gas station worker with a protest, including shutting down the business.” There was also some criticism of the woman’s claim that the business could just write the theft off in their taxes, “No they can’t just write it off their taxes,” wrote one person. 

Others took issue with Minneapolis police which, they claim, “never showed up.” One person noted that both the gas station employee and the woman both called 911 and yet, from the video alone, it seems no officers ever arrived.

The video has clearly sparked a controversial debate. While some on X sided with the gas station employee, who they argue was within his rights to prevent the alleged shoplifters from escaping, others on TikTok believed that “he is so wrong for” locking the boys inside the shop.