A. A person commits petty theft when he knowingly obtains or exercises control over anything of a value of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or less belonging to another without authorization or, if applicable, without paying the purchase price therefor, and knowingly uses, conceals or abandons the thing of value in such a manner as to deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit.

B. If any person willfully conceals unpurchased goods, wares or merchandise owned or held by and offered or displayed for sale by any store or mercantile establishment, whether the concealment be on his own person or otherwise, and whether on or off the premises of said store or mercantile establishment, such concealment constitutes prima facie evidence that the person intended to obtain control over a thing of value and intended to deprive the owner permanently of its use or benefit without paying the purchase price therefor.

C. For the purposes of this section, a thing of value is that of another if anyone other than the defendant has a possessory or proprietary interest therein.

D. For the purpose of this section, when theft occurs from a store, evidence of the retail value of the thing involved shall be prima facie evidence of the value of the thing involved. Evidence offered to establish retail value may include, but shall not be limited to, affixed labels and tags, signs, shelf tags, and notices.

E. Any violation of this section shall constitute a Class B municipal offense.

F. For the purposes of this section, in all cases where theft occurs, evidence of the value of the thing involved may be established through the sales price of other similar property and may include, but shall not be limited to, testimony regarding affixed labels and tags, signs, shelf tags, and notices tending to indicate the price of the thing involved. Hearsay evidence shall not be excluded in determining the value of the thing involved. (Ord. 200 §1, 1982; Amended Ord. 315, 1990; Ord. 472 §5, 2003; Amended Ord. 713 §4, 2017)