A WOMAN who was wrongly accused of stealing groceries at a Wegman's self-checkout has warned shoppers to beware of using the machines.

A warrant for Amber Groome's arrest was put out after the mom-of-two forgot to scan a few items at the store in Short Pump, Virginia.

She had completed her shop while she was "exhausted" from a 14-hour shift at a hospital caring for Covid patients last year.

The weary customer headed to one of the self-checkout machines and began removing the items from her bags to scan them.

But while unpacking her groceries, Amber accidentally forgot to empty one of her bags that was brimming with bargains.

The oblivious mom left the Wegman's branch and headed home, before getting a terrifying knock at the door a few days later.

She explained police informed her that she had been accused of committing petty larceny for stealing less than $1,000 after her innocent mistake.

Amber, from Louisa County, told NBC12: "When I got to the checkout, I took each bag, as I always do, to take everything out and put it back in the bag, put in the cart, do the next bag the same exact way.

"I guess I must’ve forgot a bag, like a whole bag. It wasn’t like high-dollar stuff. Like there were vitamins and stuff in there.

"But then they were also like Pringles pretzels sticks are like $1 or $2. And they didn’t stop me at the door."

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She was left stunned after being charged for the supermarket sin, despite insisting her alleged stealing was completely unintentional.

The shopper told how she regularly visited the Wegman's branch for supplies and would often spend up to $500 on groceries.

Horrified Amber was left devastated by the store's decision to escalate the incident with authorities instead of confronting her on the way out.

She continued: "I would have let them look through my whole cart. They didn’t have to do what they did at all.

"I’m only human, so. Yeah, I made a mistake. Honest mistake but I wish they would have come to me about it.

"Why they wouldn’t stop me at the door? If it was like multiple items that were paid in the bag and like some that weren’t paid for intentionally, I would understand that.

"But it was a whole bag and it was not intentional and it really hurt my feelings."

I’m only human, so. Yeah, I made a mistake. Honest mistake but I wish they would have come to me about it.

She was hauled to court in March where she was found guilty of petty larceny before requesting an appeal.

The mom took her claim to Henrico Circuit Court where she won her fight due to a lack of proof of intent.

Wegmans were left "disappointed" by the ruling, saying their video evidence captured the customer leaving without paying for nearly $250 worth of items.

The firm said in a statement: "On March 2, 2022, Ms. Groome was found guilty of petit larceny but requested an appeal.

"On May 17, 2022 another judge heard the appeal in circuit court and ruled not guilty, stating that there was no proof of intent.

"We are disappointed by this ruling as we have video evidence of Ms. Groome leaving our store without paying for close to $250 in merchandise."

Amber has now warned other shoppers to keep their wits about them at the checkout as she works to clear her name.

'FIGHT TO THE END'

Legal experts have offered several tips to customers on how they can avoid getting caught out by the self-checkout machines.

The mom explained she was also juggling a job in a restaurant alongside her work in healthcare at the time of the incident.

She claims she has "lost so much money" fighting the allegations and also lost one of her employment roles as she needed to take time off to contest her case.

Amber added: "I want my record expunged, so if I go get a normal job and they pull my record, they won’t see.

"I’m going to fight this to the end because I would feel like I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t do this."

According to reports, Henrico police were called to the Short Pump store for larceny and shoplifting 44 times in 2021.

We previously told how a Walmart shopper was accused of stealing groceries after her self-checkout machine froze.

Lesleigh Nurse was arrested in Alabama in November 2016 on accusations that she shoplifted 11 items, including Christmas lights, bread, and cereal.

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She used one of the self-checkout machines inside the store in Semmes and required a worker's help when the barcode scanner froze.

Bosses reportedly threatened to press charges unless she repaid $200 – more than the amount that she was wrongly accused of stealing.

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