[originaltext] An elderly woman yesterday made a legal claim against a depar

An elderly woman yesterday made a legal claim against a department store because it had wrongly accused her of stealing a Christmas card. Ms. Doss White, 72 years old, is claiming $3,000 damages from the store for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Ms. White visited the store while doing Christmas shopping, but did not buy anything. She was followed though the town by a store manager. He had been told that a customer saw her take a card and put it in her shopping bag. He stopped her at a bookstore as she was reading a book. Ms. White said, "This man, a total stranger, suddenly grasped my bag and asked if he could look in it." She was taken back to the store and shut in a small room in full view of shopper for 20 minutes until the police arrived. At the police station she was bodysearched and nothing was found. Her lawyer said the department store sent an insincere apology and they insisted that she may have been stealing. The hearing continues today.