How Did These People Get Locked in Stores After Closing?

These people didn’t get the memo that it was closing time and got stuck inside businesses. A man says he was shopping in an Aldi supermarket when the staff closed up early and he had to be rescued by the police. Another woman got locked in a CVS, but the police couldn’t get through the metal gate over the main entrance. A gym-goer was in the jacuzzi when the staff at L.A. Fitness closed down and he had to leave through the emergency exit. Inside Edition Digital’s Mara Montalbano has more.

[DustinMikkelsen]

One of my coworkers was once locked in the building after hours on base, he had to call security forces because none of the managers would pick up their phones. He's the one who trained me and he warned me about the possibility of this happening. Then one night, it happened to me too, I had to use the restroom and everyone just left; luckily, my manager was still in the parking lot at she unlocked the door for me.

[dudeman]

I gotta say, shame on LA fitness for being so callous and cold to the last fella and banning him after they locked him in. That was most certainly no fault of his own!! Employees should thoroughly search the establishment before closing... I would have understood not giving him 3 months free, but banning him? Good god. Shame on LA Fitness.

[ilove_sammy]

Why did the gym ban him? They should be mad at the employees for not making sure everyone was out before closing.

[kuroslife.]

I remember when the mall was closing and the store I worked in was pretty big. I pulled the gate down and we began cleaning up. Typically we dim the lights. All you hear is hangers being moved and put on racks. Clothes getting shuffled and folded back into place. Mop running across the floor. Change being counted at the register. Typical closing night. I was counting down the money when someone walked up to the register with a few shirts and put them on the table. Me thinking it was one of the new girls I looked at the items and stated that they belong over at such and such trying not to lose my count not even looking. I didn’t know this was a customer at the register until the manager started to be like “how in the hell!!” I looked up and there she was. Like this was normal. She was there for at least 30 mins after closing blending in with the employees shopping for clothes. Needless to say I couldn’t check out her items. However we did place them on hold for her to come back the next day when the store was open. I guess the hint of the mall announcement stating the mall is closed, music stopping, lights off, and gate shut wasn’t enough of a hint for her😂🤧

Another time I had to lead a couple out of the mall with the employee exit cause they didn’t leave on time. I have no clue how they stayed in the mall after hours. It was wild. The girl was about to have a panic attack. It was almost 11pm. I gotta thank willowbrook mall for all the crazy memories. I have more but I think I’ll stop here😂

[Serenity]

I work at Barnes and Noble and we always do store announcements of when we’re closing, telling customers that we’re closing in 15 minutes and 5 minutes. We check the entire store before we lock the doors and it helps that we also stay to organize the books and shelves so we go home an hour after closing so we would noticed if anyone was left behind lol.

[whoathatsanicememe]

I was in a similar situation during the pandemic. I went to grab milk at CVS about 20 minutes before they supposedly closed. I walked in and got my milk, went to the register and waited to be checked out... and waited and waited until I noticed no one was in the store. Door was open, lights were on but there was absolutely no one in the store. I put the milk back and walked out to my car and called the store... nothing.
I ended up calling the corporate office and telling them there store was left unlocked and then I left. I don't know what happened after that.

[stevenlee]

"I don't have to worry about starving to death"
Guy acts like he's about to be locked away in a bunker for 20 years or something 😂

[Devaneecat]

1:50 I actually got locked in my workplace once with another colleague because one of the staff didn't check that all the staffer were gone. It was a holiday and we were initially freaked out on what to do until we got our bearing and call our manager to inform him of the situation. He called the person in charge of the shift to come back to the pharmacy and let us out. So I can totally relate to this woman's experience. lol

[shaniceb.]

I used to work at a local department store’s dock area. During closing time, my supervisor forgot that me and another co-worker were in the back and closed up shop. We were locked in for a good while and decided to call the same supervisor to get us out instead of walking out. Good thing we did because there was an officer waiting outside 😂. Good times.

[CeeJai_K]

I was a manager at Big Lots for years. I made announcements every 5 minutes for the last 30 minutes and myself and my staff checked the store after closing. We would spend another hour after closing to count the money for the day and straighten the store up and then go home. I’m confused on how all of this happened. Sounds like lazy managers. And I hated that damn job but I still had one to do.

[screenmilk]

You would feel embarrassed and humiliated being locked in the store alone. Poor people. 😭

[earvetta]

Managers should do a walk through before closing checking bathrooms dressing rooms warehouse ect. Stores should have motion Sensor for managers to get alerts when this happens after closing

[tamikam.]

The last one should of never been banned. That's crazy. He should just sue LA FITNESS.

[elibell]

I have never found anywhere to tell my locked in horror story!! This was decades ago and I was in my late teens. I didn't even have a cell phone yet. I was at a library in Oklahoma City. It was nearing closing time so I went to check out my books. The library closed at 9, and the wall clock said 8:55. I stepped into the bathroom on my way out but the lights went out while I was peeing, making it harder to get out of the bathroom. When I exited the wall clock said 9:00 straight up but It was oddly dark everywhere. I looked around and saw no one! How in the world did everyone leave so fast? I mean everyone had purses and keys in hand to run like a marathon out the door at 9 exactly? The second I started moving around, the alarms all went off. I started to panic. I found some change in my wallet, enough to make a call on the phone in the entry way. I called my dad, who ironically was a librarian at a different branch. He had no clue what I should do. Eventually cops showed up, surrounding the library complete with so many guns! Every door and window had cops with guns pointed at me, cops screaming at me. I threw my hands up and hoped they could hear me, explaining my story. I mean, what in the world could someone have done in a library in like the 10 minutes after it had closed, yet they were treating me like some known convict. The branch manager showed up all angry to let me out without even an apology to me for what I had just gone through. It was the creepiest experience of my life, and my first experience being petrified of the police shooting me to death when I was nothing but innocently locked in the library.

[itswhatvr]

I got locked inside a huge fitness club one time when I was 16. They had closed early because it was some weird holiday. Had to call the cops to come open it up. The crazy part was when we walked in I told my step sister "wouldn't it be crazy if we got locked in here" so when it happened it really like a weird feeling.

[هُناعبير]

I’ve never been in any store that doesn’t announce they’re closing and turning some lights off! It’s weird 😀

[ChristelVinot]

one time I went into a cvs and started to notice people being confused. The store was open, but not a single employee was even there. The one who was, left for some reason and just left the store open. It was a free for all. But everyone was good and no one stole anything. That I'm aware of, lol

[hollywood]

I've worked in a hardware store and a supermarket and both required announcements, isle checks, bathroom checks before doors could be locked. I don't understand how difficult that could be for stores (especially stores who have more employees bc we did it with 3)

[theonly]

Damn LA Fitness, it’s obvious what matters more. Did they think it was a stunt? But I guess he could’ve not put it on social media. Everyone is so caught up with attention, showing the world what they’re doing. I’m glad I’m an introvert and couldn’t imagine doing any of that.

[ln]

One day, my mom decided to work on a holiday weekend (family owned food business btw) in one of those tall downtown LA buildings. Mom decided to bring me along so we can catch up on some stuff. We started opening the store and before we began on food prep/organizing, stocking and paperwork we decided to go to the bathroom early morning before we began working. So we went to the restroom that only employees can open with a special key. As soon as we finished, and tried to head out we found ourselves locked in. We both panicked and started banging so hard and screaming out loud after around the 30th minute. Anxiety was started to set in. Take in mind we were panicking because we realized it was a early morning Friday and a holiday weekend so most likely we would be stuck there for 3 days until Tuesday morning before anybody could let us out. Thankfully our screams were so loud, an old janitor man heard our screams from the floor above us and tried to figure out where the screams were coming from. He finally found us and rescued us from that horrible bathroom.
(This was early 2000s so take in mind there was no wifi and people didn't have cell phones to call anyone like we have today. Cell phones back then was a rarity if one had one. Also back in those days it was hard to get signal in a building in LA like that even with a cell phone. Just saying before anybody comments on that.)