This story might be true, but I have a hard time believing it. I worked "security" at a retail store before and it is pointless. Day one, they teach us that we cannot detain anyone. We can only ask them to stay in the store until the cops come. I was actually hired to replace a guy they fired who told a young teenager caught shoplifting that they had to stay in the back office util the cops came. His parents sued the store for false imprisonment. A few weeks later, I got in trouble for following a passenger pushing a cart full of PS3's (or 4's) worth over $6,000 out the store. My boss said once a person leaves the store I can't "harass" them.

While I don't expect your brother to know that store security has no more power than a hall monitor, a lawyer should have. If his story is true, then he must have pi$$ed off the store manager enough to cause him to press charges. In either case, if I'm hiring pilots, I want ones that have good conflict resolution skills and enough judgment to know when to hire a good lawyer. He is going to spend $40,000-$80,000 to learn to fly, so if he couldn't afford a lawyer, then he probably does not have enough money to finish his flight training.