Got Subpoenaed As A Witness At My Job- Job Is Telling Me Not To Go And They'll "handle It"

Location: Anne Arundel County, MD, USA

Hi! I work retail and about 2 months ago, a customer stole ~$600 of merchandise from us. She also purchased something that same day, and used her loyalty account, which had her full name/number/birthday/etc. on it. As required by company policy, we made a police report and gave them all this information as well as security camera footage of the theft. It was all very standard to what I've experienced in my years in retail.

However, I've never been subpoenaed before! Me, my coworker, and my store's assistant manager all received subpoenas mailed to the store. The details say: "You are hereby subpoenaed to appear as the Witness - State for the trial of the charges in the case identified above. Type of Proceeding: Trial - Officer Scheduling".

My assistant manager has been working for the company for many years and said she's been subpoenaed a few times before in this same situation. She went to court once and they didn't end up needing her. Since then she has just sent the information to our Loss Prevention team, who apparently contact the court themselves and send someone from corporate to testify on our behalf. Management says I shouldn't go for my safety, since the person on trial knows my name, face, and where I work, so there could be risk of retaliation, which I agree with. They emailed our LP team all of this information, but we never got a response back from them.

I've been concerned since then that my company actually isn't doing anything and that I'm going to get in trouble for not going. I've talked with both my manager and assistant manager and they've told me not to worry, corporate is handling it and even if they ignored it, the charges will just get dropped, and they're not going to take action against me for $600 of stolen merchandise. I get their points, but I really, really, don't want to be wrong and end up in some sort of trouble over it.

The court date is in two days. Will I be in legal trouble if I trust what my job is telling me and not go? Thank you!

Edit to clarify: My job isn't threatening any actions against me if I decide to go. They are basically just saying it's a waste of my own time, and that they'd rather someone from corporate go in from a safety perspective. So not "you can't go", but more like "don't worry about it." Looking at the advice, however, it seems I should probably go. Luckily I have a late afternoon shift the day of the trial so I can make it to court and my shift without any schedule adjustments.

I did send another email to our Loss Prevention team and District Manager to see if they had any further information on their end, but unless they can give me some concrete confirmation I'll be going to court, it seems!