Midwest superstore chain Meijer is facing potential boycotts and a public relations storm after a viral video showed police arresting a young deli worker accused of stealing food. The employee allegedly took fruit cups and chicken totaling $110 over several months.
According to reports and social media videos, the young deli worker (whose age has been reported as both 16 and 19) stole fruit cups and chicken for months, and instead of telling him to stop, the manager waited until the thefts totaled enough to justify calling the cops
The story, now resurfacing for the third time this year, has fueled widespread outrage online, with many vowing to stop shopping at the Midwest grocery chain. Many of the details included in people’s accounts of the tale, however, remain unconfirmed.
An arrest that keeps going viral
The arrest of the teen, identified as James Danison by a GoFundMe campaign, happened several months ago at least. Body cam footage of the arrest first appeared on the TikTok account @p90t93, which routinely posts police arrest videos for its 43,000 followers.
@p90t93 Teen Arrested For Stealing Lunches At Work #cops #copsoftiktok #teen ♬ original sound – POLICE CAPTAIN
The video of the teen, posted on March 21, 2025, shows the police arriving in a Meijer back office to arrest him. An older person, presumably the manager, accuses him of stealing fruit cups and chicken totaling $110 before the police cuff the worker and read him his rights. This video now has 8.7 million views.
In a second video, the teen claims that he started taking the food when he forgot his wallet at home and meant to pay the store later, but forgot. He then mentions that when he did try to pay for food on breaks, his managers complained that he was taking too long and threatened to write him up.
On April 16, X user @TaraBull808 reposted the first TikTok video of the teen’s arrest, garnering six million views. This post alleged that the teen is “disabled,” though this is unverified, and that Meijer managers “waited until he racked up enough to press charges, rather than giving him a warning.” It is unclear where these details came from, but they helped fuel the backlash against the company.
Two days later, an opinion piece in Inc.com by Suzanne Lucas included a statement from a Meijer spokesperson on the incident.
“An investigation showed that the former team member in question had knowingly committed multiple thefts over multiple months, totaling hundreds of dollars, which is why local law enforcement was involved,” they said.
“Hundreds of dollars” does not seem to accurately represent the total stated by the officer in the video, which was $110.
The Meijer blowback begins
Fast forward to August 19, and the story has gone viral again. Multiple X posts on the topic gained millions of views, including a letter by @njoyzgrl81 claiming that the employee’s alleged theft was a product of food insecurity and declaring her intent to boycott Meijer.
“You had an opportunity to intercede and support an employee with their food insecurity crisis,” she wrote. “If this is your company policy regarding employees, one can only speculate how little you value your customers.”
“As a consumer, I have many options, and will no longer support or patronize your stores.”
On TikTok, @neiltheceo claimed the store was going to throw away the items the employee allegedly stole. The Daily Dot has not been able to verify the accuracy of these statements.
@neiltheceo 16 year old disabled teen arrested for stealing fruit cups from Meijer grocery store #trending #foryoupage #viralvideo #fypシ ♬ original sound – Neiltheceo
Chain grocery stores are notorious for throwing away tons of food each year due to passed expiration dates or cosmetic reasons. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, retailers and consumers trashed “133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010.”
Aside from the fact that Meijer employees in the video alleged the total stolen was worth $110, that the teen had a hard time eating during his breaks, and that he walked to work sometimes, the rest of this story remains unconfirmed.
The Daily Dot reached out to Meijer in an attempt to confirm details. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boycott calls spread across social media
The story’s spread is causing a serious PR problem for Meijer. As the story goes viral for the third time this year, people are voicing their anger over the company arresting a hungry teen instead of firing him.
“He was taking food from the throwaway bin. @meijer wasn’t losing any money on it,” wrote @Ghostofcynthia. “I hope the blowback is HUGE. Get this kid a lawyer and sue the shit out of them.”
“When I was a pizza cook in my youth, manager let us eat 1 pizza a day, 2 if we worked long shifts,” said @Monstrello. “But if we were hungry, he didn’t mind us taking a bit extra. People who slacked and didn’t do their job properly were fired, not the ones who took an extra piece of salami. This is normal human behavior which didn’t require any contract.”
“I understand your post to say the items he ate were being thrown away. If so, that’s a disgusting punishment for this young man @meijer,” wrote @DMcKayRE. “Likely he’s consuming products that are being tossed because he can’t afford to purchase them on the salary you were paying him.”
“They would rather destroy FOOD than feed a child,” declared @helenfoss739 on TikTok. “The evil is broad and deep.”
“Meijer’s is getting cooked in their comments,” @tjcilantro observed. “They’re about to feel Target’s pain.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Meijer for comment via email.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.
