IN FAIRNESS: i believe retail employees being told not to chase after thieves and letting the cops deal with it (or not) is common for a lot big chain outlets these days.
I worked in retail in the 80s and 90s and that was the case back then. Technically there is really nothing store security can do to you, and if they actually put hands on you, you can sue the store and/or have the security guard arrested.
When I worked security, I sure as fuck wasn't going to get into anything for minimum wage. Most people I caught gave up pretty freely though, and we wouldn't get the cops involved most times. We would take their picture and tell them they couldn't come in the store again. If they were kids, we'd call the parents to pick them up. Other than that, there wasn't much we could legally do.
Internal theft is a much bigger issue, and that is something stores will actually get the cops involved with.
But yeah, I'm also calling bullshit that Neppy was like "take what you want, homie".