THOUSAND OAKS : No Charges Filed in Shoplifting Case

No criminal charges will be filed against a transient arrested on suspicion of ordering her son to shoplift because there is no evidence to corroborate the child’s story, a prosecutor said Friday.

Caren Helen Jeffries, 32, was released from the Ventura County Jail on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after she was arrested at a Sears store in Thousand Oaks, Sheriff’s Sgt. Cole McDaniel said.

Authorities had said Jeffries was arrested after she sent her son into Sears with instructions to steal $75 worth of merchandise so she could return it and use the money to get them a hotel room and food.

The boy was arrested after he was chased from the store by a security guard. He was carrying a $48 woman’s bathing suit and a $24.99 pair of boy’s pants, a sheriff’s official said.

Although he initially said he stole the merchandise to give away as gifts, the boy later said his mother told him to take it, authorities said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald M. Grant said the only evidence against Jeffries came from the statements of her son, who was considered an accomplice to the crime.

Under California law, a person cannot be convicted solely on the testimony of an accomplice, Grant said.

Jeffries told sheriff’s officials at the scene that her son was lying about her role in the thefts.