2502

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 849

(c)    A merchant or an agent cr employee of the
merchant who detains or causes the arrest of any person
shall not be held civilly liable for detention, slander,
malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, or false arrest
of the person detained or arrested, whether the detention or
arrest takes place by the merchant or by his agent or
employee, if in detaining or in causing the arrest of the
person, the merchant or the agent or employee of the
merchant had at the time of the detention or arrest probable
cause to believe that the person committed the crime of
shoplifting as defined in this section.

(d)    Every person convicted of the crime of
shoplifting to the value of $100 or upwards, or as accessory
before the fact, is guilty of a felony and shall restore any
goods, or things taken, to the owner or shall pay him their
full value, and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or be
imprisoned in the penitentiary for not more than three
years. If any person is convicted of the crime of
shoplifting under the value of $100 he is guilty of a
misdemeanor and shall restore the goods and chattels taken,
or pay their full value to the owner thereof, and be fined
not more than $500 or imprisoned for not more than 18 months
in the house of correction of jail, or both fined and
imprisoned. In Baltimore City, where the value of the thing
stolen does not exceed $500, the Municipal Court of
Baltimore City has jurisdiction to try persons charged with
violating this section. Persons convicted in the Municipal
Court shall not be sentenced to the penitentiary by that
court.

(e)    If any part, section, paragraph, clause,
sentence, or provision of this section shall be held invalid
for any reason, the remainder of this section, or other
applications thereof, shall not be affected thereby, and to
this end, the provisions of this section are declared
severable.

(f)    This section is declared to be in addition to any
other criminal provisions heretofore existing in this State.

(g)    All laws, or parts of laws, inconsistent with the
provisions of this section are hereby repealed to the extent
of the inconsistency.

(h) Nothing in this section shall affect any cause of
action which has accrued prior to June 1, 1961.]

[Taxicabs]

[555.

Any person who engages and accepts transportation in a
public taxicab or other vehicle operated as a common
carrier, under any conditions whereby the charge therefor is
not paid in advance, and who wilfully refuses to pay the
proper charges at the conclusion of such transportation,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction