The case of the sneaker theft for 113 euros at the Weekend store recently ended relatively well: the defendant avoided criminal punishment. The Riga Pardaugava prosecutor's office decided to terminate the criminal proceedings against the thief. Why?
The story began on April 6, 2023, when information about a theft at the Weekend store was reported to the Zemgale suburb police station in Riga. The total amount of damage was 112.97 euros. A certain man was identified as the suspect in the case.
The theft was executed quickly, but the police did not work as fast. The case was only transferred to the prosecutor's office for criminal prosecution in March 2026. That is, almost three years later.
The case was handled by prosecutor Iveta Rudzite, who noted that the defendant had not committed any other offenses in the past year and had no criminal record. A decisive factor was the statement from the representative of the affected company, LLC Weekend Latvia: the store did not seek compensation and requested to close the case since the stolen goods had been returned.
According to Latvian law, the prosecutor has the right to close the process if the crime is deemed minor – that is, if the damage at the time of the theft was less than half of the minimum wage in the country. Since at that time the minimum wage in Latvia was set at 620 euros, the theft of nearly 113 euros fell under this definition.
Considering that the affected party had no claims, the criminal process was officially terminated on March 25, 2026.
