I totally forgot to update my
stolen wallet story until
Kacey reminded me. Thank You Kacey!
So, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, I had to go to the DMV the next day to get a new license. No problem, until I get to the DMV and they moved due to budget cuts and I had no clue where the new satellite offices were located. It was fun times finding one, but I eventually did and got my new "paper" license right away. I never remember the DMV being so quick and efficient. It was really nice. The only bad part was that I wouldn't get my picture id in the mail for another 7-10 business days. Great, I needed it to board a plane.
Well, I wasn't the only one worried about needing a license to get on a plane, the trooper who took the report, was jammed up about it as well. You see, he had the next 3 days off and wasn't "supposed" to work on my case until Monday, but the fact that I needed my license, he decided to do a little work on the side for me. What a guy!
Remember the chic that stole my wallet used her food stamp card? Well in order to get an EBT card, you basically have to give all of your information to the department of social services when you apply for one. This means he knew where she lived and even had her cell phone number. He called her. She answered!!!!
Basically he busted her saying that he knew what she did and they have her on tape doing it. She of course denies it and stupidly confirms to the trooper it was her after he played a little bit of word games with her. She's not the smartest woman. Here is an example of their conversation:
Trooper - "Do you work for a nursing agency? It looks like you were wearing pink scrubs."
Thief - "Those weren't scrubs, it was a jogging suit!"
Trooper - "We even saw you get into your black SUV."
Thief - "It's not black, it's dark green!"
Here she is denying it and then incriminating herself by arguing with his facts. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. After a bit of this he gets her to admit that she did it. She claims she took nothing out of it and threw it in the garbage, in the Walmart parking lot. Wonderful. He told her too bad, because if she had the wallet, he would have given her a break with the judge.
Oh! All of the sudden she thinks it might be somewhere else. She will call him back in 20 minutes. I am guessing to figure out her game play. She calls him back and now her story changes. She claims she threw it out the window of the SUV while they were driving on Transit Rd, near some big grassy area. He calls me. Tells me he doesn't want to send me on a wild goose chase, but it may be worth a shot looking for it. Brian just happened to be on Transit at this very moment so he searched for it. For 2 HOURS! NOTHING! Sadness.
I call the trooper back and told him our efforts and he wasn't surprised that it wasn't there. i had such hope there for a little while. I really thought I would get it back. Oh well. I was starting to accept the fact that it wasn't going to happen.
Fast forward a couple of hours. The phone rings. I know it is a stranger calling because it says "Private" on the caller id and when I answer, the woman who asks for me cannot pronounce my last name. I knew what she was going to say. I was right:
Hi. Is this Amy _____? I found your wallet in the McDonald's parking lot on Genesee St., across from the airport."
I was so excited!! She claimed she found it right in the parking lot. Hmmm...funny how she was the 1st one to see it in a very busy McD's parking lot more than 24 hours after it was tossed. I didn't even care at this point. I just wanted my wallet. Unfortunately, she couldn't meet me because she didn't have a car (how the heck was she at McD's miles and miles away?), so I would have to pick up the wallet at her house. I was scared, but played along and got her address. She lived in a really rough area on the East side of the city. No way in hell I was going there!
I called the trooper and he thought it sounded fishy too. Well, there just happened to be an undercover sting operation going down, right there, and his sergeant went to the chic's house (who was in a neck brace when he showed up) and got it! She had no clue that I wasn't coming. Nice surprise for her, hehe!
Yay!!! My wallet was now in police custody. Everything was in it except for the cash. They even left the change. Wasn't that thoughtful of them?!
The rest of the weekend the trooper had his days off and surprised the thief on Monday when he showed up at her house and arrested her. She probably thought she was in the clear after nothing happened all weekend. Then Monday came and BAM! HAHA! He brought her in and had her write her confession. Now mind you, she doesn't know that I have my wallet and that someone "found it", they never told her anything that happened. Yet, her statement now changed. In it, she writes that she threw the wallet out of the window of the SUV right by McDonald's near the airport. Funny how she knew that. I thought she threw it out on Transit Rd. I told you, she's not the smartest thief.
Now for the icing on the cake. Her friend, the one behind her in line, was using a stolen EBT card and was arrested for that!!! HA - sweet justice!!!! I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I believe in karma and this was a true case of where it happened perfectly!
I think I will pay more attention to my wallet from now on. Lesson learned!
She is still sound asleep as I write this. Yay!
