I almost feel bad pressing charges when a woman steals my wallet and only takes $30

Without my noticing it, my wallet got shoved off the counter onto the floor at a local pharmacy. When I realized I didn’t have it, I went back to the pharmacy where they used their video and discovered that a woman had come into the store, picked up the wallet, and put it in her purse. The pharmacy called the police.

The woman was caught because she got an injection at the pharmacy which created a record of her visit along with her name and address. It didn’t take the police long to find her. She confessed to taking the wallet, saying that she kept the cash and tossed the wallet out the car window. All this happened before I even left the store.

The officer asked if I wanted to press charges. Assuming at that point that the woman had used one or more of the VISA/MC cards and that I was looking toward the hassle of getting a new driver’s license, medicare card, and a set of all new credit cards, I said “yes.” Later the wallet was found with all the cards &c. untouched by somebody who was kind enough to bring it to my house with no idea the police had arrested a thief in the matter of that wallet.

Of course, I know nothing about the thief, mainly whether or not this kind of thing is a habit with her or whether she has a police record. If she has no record, I can’t really see her going to jail for stealing $30. I definitely have mixed feelings about this, and that goes to show you that I’d never make it as a cop, a DA, or a judge.

In Georgia, misdemeanor theft can lead to up to one year in jail. I hope she gets a community service sentence instead unless the whole thing is dismissed since the amount was so small– and (if) she gives me the money back.

I may never know how this ends up. What would you have done if this happened to you?

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the Florida Folk Magic series. All four novels are available at a savings in this Kindle version.