Oh, yes, I have a lot of stories about “employee theft.” Everything from gas to tools to pipes to lumber and on and on. But, here’s a better one.
When I was on patrol on 3rd shift and working out of the Erie Barracks, I was driving down Interstate 90 and was about to exit when I saw a man pushing a basket cart. There was no doubt in my mind that he was homeless. Normally, I never bothered them because I always told myself that they had more problems than enough without me bugging them. But, I had a little time to kill, so I thought that I would check him out. (We are requested to do welfare checks on people that we suspect to be homeless.)
I pulled up in front of him and when I approached him, I asked him the usual questions and thought everything was fine. I asked him where he got the cart and he told me that he found it by the road. (Yeah, OK.) The law is that if anyone is in possession of stolen property, whether they stole it or not, we’re supposed to take back the property and as long as it’s value is less than a hundred dollars, we are to let them go.
When I looked at the cart, I saw it was full of his personal belongings. What am I supposed to do? Make him unload his stuff and put the cart in my SUV? I had a better idea. I knew there was a McDonald’s at the end of the off ramp, so I asked him if he would wait 5 or 10 minutes until I came back and he said he would.
I drove down to the restaurant and bought a $20.00 gift card. When. I got back, I really didn’t think he would have stuck around, but he did. I gave him the gift card and left. Out of curiosity, I turned around and drove back, only to see him going into the restaurant. I thought, “Good for him.”
