The DA has reduced shoplifting charges against Bai Ling to an infraction, saying she had no criminal intent when she walked off with some magazines and batteries from a store at the Los Angeles airport. Ling explained the incident as a mix-up, saying that store clerks had asked her to step aside and wait after she asked about the the right sized batteries for a toy she'd purchased. "I went across the [hall] with the toy in my hand, and asked which battery would fit. They told me [they knew which would fit], but they had really long line and I had to make the flight," Bai tells Page Six. "I literally walked to the side of the store, texting, talking. Then the police come. All the lights, and they took me. I had no intention to take."

Mix-ups will be mix-ups, so we'll give her the benefit of doubt, especially considering that, as notable shoplifters go, her explanation/excuse is better than most. After the jump, some of our fave celebrity shoplifting excuses of yore.

Sticky fingers: Winona Ryder, actress
Sticky merchandise: More than $5,500 worth of goodies from Saks in Beverly Hills, California
Excuse: Various—eitgher a film director told her to do it to prepare for a movie role, or she thought the department store would keep her "account" open and add the items to her tab.

Sticky fingers: Coolio, rapper
Sticky merchandise: Clothing from a boutique in Stuttgart, Germany
Excuse: A clothing company had promised him free outfits for signing autographs in the store

Sticky fingers: Jennifer Capriati, tennis player
Sticky merchandise: Cheapo rings from a shopping mall in Tampa, Florida
Excuse: She was just trying them on and forgot to take them off, she got distracted, she was 17

Sticky fingers: Claude W. Allen, former White House adviser under George W. Bush
Sticky merchandise: More than $5,000 worth of fraudulent returns at Target
Excuse: credit card mix-up

Sticky fingers: Shelley Morrison, actress, Will & Grace
Sticky merchandise: More than $400 worth of costume jewelry from a Los Angeles Robinsons-May department store
Excuse: It was a cry for help, "sometimes the mind has a mini earthquake"

Sticky fingers: Olga Korbut, four-time Olympic-gold-medal winning gymnast
Sticky merchandise: $19 in groceries from a Georgia supermarket
Excuse: None given, but what's the big deal? Cheese, figs, and chocolate syrup are yummy

Sticky fingers: John W. Shannon, Acting Secretary of the Army under President Bill Clinton
Sticky merchandise: A skirt and blouse ($30 value) from the Army post exchange in Fort Myer, Virginia
Excuse: None given, but we'll say job stress and lingering PTSD from Vietnam