CBS anchor excuses Walgreens shoplifter in viral video: 'You're getting probably something you need'

"CBS This Morning" co-host Tony Dokoupil gave a perplexing excuse Wednesday for a man seen in a viral video stealing multiple items at a San Francisco Walgreens before exiting the store on a bicycle.

Dokoupil claimed the man was probably getting something he needed and suggested that nothing should have been done to stop the crime as it was taking place.

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"So crime is never justified of course," Dokoupil said after CBS' Vlad Duthiers played the video of the theft. He was interrupted by co-host Anthony Mason, saying, "I will say that I think they could have made a little better effort to stop that bicycle. I mean you could have disrupted that bike." 

"Well, I mean, I don't know," Dokoupil said, appearing to question the need to stop the shoplifter. "You don't need to be a hero over some toothbrushes or whatever it is." 

All of Dokoupil's co-hosts suggested various ways the perpetrator could have been stopped by the security personnel witnessing the crime being committed. Dokoupil, however, seemed to be the only one willing to excuse the theft. 

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"That reads also as an act of desperation. I mean, you're not getting rich off what you take from a Walgreens, you're getting probably something you need. I don't know the details of that particular case," he said.

"I mean, a bag full? They looked like hair products … which are valuable, and he's filling his bag full of them," Duthiers said. 

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Co-host Adriana Diaz confirmed that the stolen products were indeed hair products.

"Now try lifting items from your local CBS station … since they're supportive," Newsbusters executive editor Tim Graham tweeted in response.