It was surprising to read that theft is a U.S. pastime

I was deeply concerned when reading the remarks of rally speaker Jose Gutierez, Jr. ("Groups take to streets over shooting case," Sept. 4) who, when commenting about the circumstances (alleged theft at Safeway) that led to the shooting, is quoted as saying, "This is an old pastime in our country."

Really? Theft is a pastime? And here I thought the American pastime was baseball.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 8:42 AM with the headline "It was surprising to read that theft is a U.S. pastime."