Checkers security ruining the Checkers experience

Last week Thursday, my friend and I went to checkers Forrest walk to get a few things including a bottle of 500ml sparkling water which we put in the cup holder of the trolley we was pushing. We got to the till paid for everything but had forgotten about the bottle of water. As we was approaching the door, the security asked if we had paid for the water. That's when we realized that we still had the water. As we was turning back to go and pay for it coz we was still in the store, the security refused to allow to pay for it. She said she had to involve management as that's checkers protocol. I did not understand why management had to be involved coz we was still in the store, quite close to the tills. The security escalated the matter anyways. My friend and I were detained. The manager came to the office we were being held in and just said that he doesn't deal with shoplifting. This was shocking coz that was absolutely not the case. The bottle of water was not concealed in any way and we was still in the store and willing to pay for the bottle, so how did they come to the conclusion that what had happened was shoplifting. Mind y'all, I had traveled from joburg to go see my friend in Pretoria. So I left joburg to ***** a R12 bottle of water in Pretoria? The security wanted to take down our details and picture which is against the POPI act. They refused to let us see this protocol they were following with regards to shoplifting. They called the Brooklyn police station and my friend and I were arrested. All this happened at around 5.30pm. We spent the night in the police holding cell, and was let out on police bail due to the value of the "crime" we had to appear in court the following Monday but the prosecutor did not enroll the case due to the value of the "crime" . I am so disappointed at how checkers is handling this issue coz not only are they wasting taxpayers money, police resources and and police time, they are not taking responsibility for the trauma and waste of time they have caused. I wrote to the head office about this. I received a call from them telling me that different branches hire different security companies. Like what's that got to do with me, take responsibility. Anyways, they said that they will look into the matter and get back to me but they have not gotten back to me that's why I am writing here. I am a medical student. Imagine I had gotten a ******** record for a bottle of water. All because of some ridiculous protocol that needed to be follow. I actually doubt the protocol they followed is the actual protocol. It just a bunch of sour people abusing their position. Otherwise, this protocol in question needs to be reviewed. It is absolutely ridiculous. And checkers take responsibility for the security companies your company hires and how they treat your customers. If there was a negative 5 star rating for what thy put my friend and I thru I would give them that. I mean the cashier's were great and friendly and helpful. The security just ruined the checkers experience. And their website don't allow you to choose the complaint option