Friend Caught Shoplifting From Target, What Should They Expect?

Location: Ohio

Hi all, let me preface this by saying I am hot off the press into adulthood and have absolutely no experience in law, and I’m sitting here trying to help someone I care for deeply in trouble.

TLDR: Yesterday, my friend and I were shopping at Target together and, unbeknownst to me, lots of things were stolen by my friend that racked up to $100 worth of stuff. I only found out once we were about to exit, when two Target employees took my friend to their back room. None of the employees bothered to ask me anything and told me to wait there. (I was blocking the exit, so I went to my friends car and waited outside in the parking lot, was not questioned after that either.) I simply waited for my friend to be let go so we could go home.

Now for the more important information,

Target has issued a year long “trespass” on my friend for just this specific location. The employee said they will be pressing charges. This has not accumulated over multiple visits, just this one. Tags/packaging was ripped off the merchandise and cannot be resold. My friend was very cooperative and honest the whole time. Police were called, my friend was taken to the police station for a screening and did not spend any time in jail. My friend has had no prior criminal record, not even as much as a speeding ticket. Police told my friend they would be getting a letter in the mail for a court summon.

This might seem cut and dry to some, but my friend still has a lot of questions that I unfortunately cannot answer. I was hoping somebody could offer their expertise on how to go about this.

If further investigated, could I possibly get in trouble for simply being with them? What kind of verdict should my friend expect? Will Target ask for compensation? Should my friend hire an attorney, lawyer, etc.? How likely is it for charges to be dropped? I really appreciate any help, the more I can know about this specific scenario the better.

As a side note, I’m also fairly reasonably worried for my implication in any of this. I was in somewhat close proximity (being in separate aisles not too far from each other and such) to them. I tried not to make this too long while also trying to provide as much as possible even when things are still up in the air. If there’s any questions, I will try to answer them.