I have a friend who is a retail theft consultant and answers such questions privately for no fee in most cases. He says clearly the store made Police and/or probation aware. You need a Lawyer.
My friend had a client in a similar situation he advise to take some class before court. He did and Judge dismissed case on the spot. Cannot say same will happen for you but it cant hurt He adds it was unwise to name store or admit to crimes on public forum.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.