Dealing with shoplifter.

So hi guys..

Earlier today a customer noticed another customer loitering around with a 10 pack of Stella and asked me to keep an eye on them so I kept an eye on them and kept a safe distance from them. I work in an express store so do the usual shop floor an assist with self service tills.

The said customer came upto self service with the box of Stella and as they looked clearly over 25 I manually approved it with my qr code, I walk away just by the door to the shop/next to promo shelves just in case they decided to do a runner

Well their card declined and they decided to make a run for it, I grabbed the box of Stella and their arm, to which I ended pushing them to the ground and I sat on them and grabbed their wrists to avoid being injured, got spat on a few times.

A few customers assisted in helping me with the shoplifter. 3 or so minutes passed before the shift leader came along and told me to get off the shoplifter. And said to me is it really worth it for a box of Stella.

So I got off and let go of him before walking away kinda dejected cause I was trying to stop stuff from getting stolen. Moments later I hear smashing and the shoplifter smashed a bunch of bottles of wine from what I was told by another colleague.

10 or so minutes later as I decided it would be best for me to take a little while out back to calm down. I ended up over hearing my shift leader say to another colleague that I should have just let them go and it wasn't worth for the damages which happened.

I'm assuming that I was wrong for trying to stop a shop and grabbing them. Guessing ill get a lets talk when I return to work for my next shift.