Single Mom Wrongly Arrested and charged with Burglary

**acameron760** · 01-03-2007, 12:17 AM

Hello I really need to vent and rant so please bear with me. This story begins on Sept. 20 2006. I was job hunting in Southern, CA. I went to a local temp agency (one I had previously been to). I gave the receptionist a copy of my social security card and California driver’s license. I stood near the door while she walked to a back office and copied them. She returned handed me my I.D. and Social security card, she then thanked me and said that the women who requested those items would give me a call. I proceeded to job hunt that day as I had an interview just minutes after I left that office. On October 1 2006 the county sheriff knocked on my front door with a warrant for my arrest. He didn't give me any information. He simply cuffed me and took me from my home in as patrol car. I was taken approx. 25 minutes away from my home to another male detective. Who then told me that I was being accused of stealing the purse of the receptionist from the temp agency? The credit cards and cash in the purse had been stolen. And he told me that I had used the women’s credit card to make 200.00 dollars worth of purchases at the local shopping mall. He stated that he put my I.D. photo in a line up and a witness from the department store picked me out of the line up. I was taken to a detention center booked and held on $15000.00 bail. I posted my own bail within 10 hours. I have an attorney now and we have looked at the police report. The only evidence against me is that the witness identified me in the lineup and that someone signed my name on the credit card receipt. My question to everyone out there is what should I do next. I do have an attorney but I'm running out of money. I'm a single mom. I'm not on welfare and I don't receive child support. I am a notary in California but work is slow. I've been in court every month since I was arrested, and I have the arrest on record in my county. I'm at my wits end. Any suggestions....

**Mr. Knowitall** · 01-04-2007, 08:11 AM

That's a pretty compelling case. You were present at the location from which the credit card was stolen. The person who signed the credit receipt signed your name. Realistically, that means it was either you or the owner of the credit card, because nobody else would have known your name. And the person at the store identified you. The receptionist may also be ruled out if she didn't leave work that day prior to the card's being used at the store.

Do you have a theory by which somebody else could have done this?

If this was an indoor mall, you and your lawyer should try to get security videos for the entrances and exits, and any which show people coming in or out of the store or inside the store where the card was used. If you weren't there, you won't be on the video - and if there is video of the store you may be able to identify the person who used the card.

**acameron760** · 01-04-2007, 11:12 PM

Thank you for the reply....
Here is what I have been told; the receptionist was called by her credit card company 2 hours after I left her office. The card company notified her that unauthorized purchases were being made. They (the card company) then put a block on the card. The receptionist then went to the police station and filled a report. I strongly believe that the receptionist either made the purchases herself or had a friend or relative make them. I was in her office a few minutes before noon which is typically when office employees take their lunch hour. In addition to that her office is only 10 or 15 minutes away from the shopping mall. I feel she has concocted the theft story to get out of paying her credit card bill. I also believe that she and the clerk at the department store are in cahoots because there is no other way the department store would have known anything about me. The police report states the clerk at the department store did not check I.D. because they do zip code match and the person that made the purchases provided the correct zip code. The clerk also stated that the person that made the purchases seemed "nervous".

Yes there should be a surveillance tape showing that I was never at the store but I can't afford to hire a private investigator to get the tape. I don’t think I can walk in and ask for it but I have not tried that.
I haven't been able to set foot in a mall since this whole ordeal began.
I do have records of were I was on that day and the company that I interviewed with after leaving her office has agreed to provide me with a statement. In the statement they will state that I did interview with them on the day in question and that I was there for over a hour.
I feel that if the detective would have done a deeper investigation I would never have been arrested in the first place. But here I am …

**souperdave** · 01-05-2007, 01:30 AM

Two things strike me as a tad odd......your original post you specifically state that you stand near the door while your card(s) are copied. Would not most interviewees simply have a seat while their info/application is being processed?
Secondly, police photo line-ups consist of the witness/victim being shown a series of photos, not just one, or even two.

My agreement runs along with Mr. K. What the PD seems to have appears to be somewhat compelling. And as far as signing your own name there's two schools of thought there: your nervousness overrode your force of habit and you signed your normal 'Jane Doe' without thinking, or, you already had a defense plan in mind....."Judge, What person in their right mind would sign their own name to a stolen credit card slip?"

Methinks you should seek out an attorney pronto!

**souperdave** · 01-05-2007, 01:34 AM

Pardon my slip....I see you have an attorney. BUT, you're jobhunting yet are able to post $15K bond within hours......

Curios! Mucho curious................