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Food

Thief Hands Waitress Her Own Stolen Credit Card To Pay His Bill

*face palm*
Photo via Flickr user Terence McCormack

Look, we’re not suggesting that you (or anyone) steal a stranger’s purse, but if you do, it’s probably worth familiarizing yourself with the person whose stuff you just swiped. Look at the name on their credit cards, flip through the family pics in their wallet and study the face staring back at you from their driver’s license—otherwise, you’ll end up like a recently arrested Arkansas man.

According to Arkansas Online, on Sunday, Flora Lunsford stopped at the United Filling Station in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. After filling her tank, she walked into the store, which is when an as-yet-unidentified man allegedly helped himself to the handbag she’d left in her car. He then pulled away from the pumps without paying for his own gas, picked up a friend who’d just stolen a drink from the gas station, and the two sped off.

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Two days later, Lunsford was waiting tables at Shannon’s Restaurant, a diner just two blocks from the gas station, and one of her customers handed her a credit card to pay for his food. When she got to the cash register, she had to do a double-take: She looked at the card and saw her own name embossed on it. Instead of buying a strange, quite-possibly larcenous dude’s meal, she decided to call the cops.

Officers from the Pine Bluff Police Department arrived before 21-year-old Shamon West could excuse himself from the table, handcuffed him, and searched him; they found Lunsford’s driver’s license, social security card, and several other credit cards on his person. He was taken into custody and charged with forgery and theft by receiving.

“The driver's license, as all do, had her picture on it,” the police department said in a statement. “Therefore, you would think he should have known what she looked like. Yet, he still handed her own credit card to her.”

Seriously, thieves. Look at the pictures and save yourself some trouble.