The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A fast-food restaurant manager and his girlfriend allegedly stole a debit card that a customer accidentally left in the establishment and spent over $700 within two hours.
On June 29, a customer at a Burger King in Royal Palm Beach, Florida, left the restaurant without taking their Wells Fargo debit card.
When an employee found the card, they reportedly turned it over to the manager on duty.
The 42-year-old man put the debit card into a safe in the manager’s office.
The following day, the owner of the card called the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to report that they believed someone had gotten ahold of it. They reported that they noticed four unauthorized purchases totaling $764 were made. The card was used at Publix, Walmart, and Wawa. An attempted purchase at Taco Bell had been declined, as well. All of the transactions were made within 90 minutes of the time the man left the restaurant.
The authorities opened an investigation, and they collected the surveillance footage from Burger King and the other stores in which the card was reportedly used.
The Burger King video reportedly showed the manager retrieving the card from the safe and making a phone call. He was seen leaving the establishment and meeting with someone in a car that was believed to be his girlfriend. The woman had her children in the vehicle.
According to reports, the man gave the card to the woman and she drove away.
The footage from the stores where the card was used reportedly depicted images of a person matching the manager’s girlfriend’s description.
On September 20, both suspects were taken into custody and incarcerated. They are each facing charges for suspicion of trafficking in stolen property, fraud impersonation, possession of stolen credit cards, and illegal use of stolen credit cards.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a theft offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.