WESTFIELD – A thief who was apparently willing to steal the cash from a wallet he took from a liquor store counter was kindhearted enough to make sure that the victim got back the wallet and the personal and financial documents it contained.
A Sackett Road man called police Monday afternoon to report that his wallet was stolen after he inadvertently left it on the counter of a Franklin Street liquor store. The caller told the emergency dispatcher that he had accidentally left his wallet on the counter and when he returned for he found it gone.
Officer William Cavanaugh responded to the store and reports that, when the store’s security video was reviewed, the clerk immediately recognized the man seen stealing the wallet to be a homeless man who frequents the store. The man was not found in the area.
When Cavanaugh returned to the store about and hour and a half later to speak further with the clerk he learned that the suspect had returned there.
The clerk told Cavanaugh that when he confronted the man about the wallet the man said that he had dropped it into a mailbox on Chapel Street and abruptly left the store.
Assistance was requested and received from the Westfield Post Office and when the mailbox was opened the wallet was found.
Det. Todd Edwards reports that the wallet was intact – except for the cash.
The victim had said that the wallet contained more than $100 in cash which was not in the wallet when it was recovered but the victim did get back the financial cards, documents and personal papers which had been in it.
Edwards said that although the suspect has been identified he has not been found and the detective said “he’s made it known that he’s not going to make it easy on us.”
Edwards said that no manhunt or extraordinary measures are contemplated to bring the man into custody because he is confident that the man will surface soon in the normal course of police business.
When asked about apparent consideration shown by the suspect when he left the wallet in a safe place so the owner could recover the financial, official and personal items it contained Edwards said: “He’s a thief but he’s not a mean thief.”
