03/19/2014
Woman arrested after claiming wallet dropped in parking lot is hers
Woman arrested after claiming wallet dropped in parking lot is hers
Maria Noriega said her wallet contained identifying information like birth certificates, social security cards, and nearly $5,000 in cash.
While Noriega is glad she got her designer wallet back, she was disappointed to find its contents were $1,500 short.
It's a case of a missing wallet.
"The good thing about it is there was video cameras. That was important for us... this is our second or third case, in which money has gone missing in a supermarket and we were able to capture the video and capture the suspect," said San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez.
Detectives reviewed hours of surveillance footage from Junior's Supermarket. The video from Monday afternoon showed man picking up the wallet from the parking lot and handing it to a woman, who police have identified as Orfelinda De Leon.
"She told the male, 'That's my wallet.' Once she said that, the gentleman handed the wallet to her. She went to her car. Once inside her car, she knew that was not her wallet because her wallet was sitting in the passenger side of the car," said Chief Gonzalez.
Chief Gonzalez said De Leon had the opportunity to do the right thing, but instead intended to keep the wallet for herself. De leon was then taken to the police station for further questioning.
"This morning, I came to pick up my belongings and my money and it only had $3,300. I wasn't going to press any charges on her, but I bumped into her and she started harrassing me," recalled Maria Noriega.
Noriega is the owner of that wallet. She said de leon approached her at the san juan police station and requested she not press charges.
"When she told me the quanity that she spent she said she only got 300. When in fact she got 1500 so she kept on lying it makes me think she had not remorse," described Noriega.
Noriega said thats what made her change her mind. She claimed her wallet was carrying $4,800 in tax return money. She was planning to buy a truck. Inside that designer wallet was more than just money.
"The most important thing in that wallet was not the money. The fact was that my birth certificate was there and my texas ID, my kids socials and birth certificates, so it was going to be a very big hassle," said Noriega.
It's why police are reminding you not to keep identifying information in your wallets or purses.
San Juan police said they charged Orfelinda De Leon with state felony theft Tuesday afternoon because instead of returning the wallet, De Leon intended to keep it for herself. She is being held on a $10,000 bond.
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