She's really upset. I called her when I got off of work and she was crying.
My mom walks the mall in the morning with the old folks most days. Last Thursday she found a wallet in the bathroom with more than $400 in it. She checked the wallet for anything with a phone number in it, but there wasn't anything in it with that information. She did recognize the older lady in the driver's license picture and walked around the mall trying to find her, but was unable to. She thought of holding the wallet until she saw the lady another day, but she was worried that she would be freaking out about her missing wallet, money and cards that were in the wallet, so she took it to the security office. She explained to the officer at the desk that the lady in the picture was a regular mall walker and asked if she had been to the office looking for it. The security officer said she hadn't stopped by. My mom explained that there was money in the wallet, showed it to the officer and mentioned that the lady that lost it was probably on a fixed income, so she was really worried and wanted her to have it back as soon as possible. The guard said that he'd get the police stationed at the mall involved and make sure that the lady would get her wallet back.
This morning my mom saw the lady that lost her wallet and told her that she had turned it into the office. The lady said that she got her wallet, but all the money was gone. My mom was really angry about this and told the lady exactly what had happened and how she had counted the money and told the security officer about it. The lady asked if my mom would go with her to the security office to get a police officer to take a report, which my mom agreed to. When they got into the office, the same security guard that had originally taken in the wallet looked at both of them and his face turned bright red and he went into the back office. The lady with the missing money commented that he looked very guilty.
The police officer took the lady into the office and talked to her for a few minutes. Then he took my mom into a separate office. My mom explained that she thought the security officer took the money because of his reaction and the fact that he told the lady with the wallet that a page working for the mall found the wallet, when my mom was the one who found it. Additionally, the lady said that she stopped by the office looking for the wallet before the time that my mom had stopped by, but the guy told my mom that the lady never stopped by. Then the cop started getting nasty with my mom and said that he though she took the money because she was accusing the security officer of taking it. Then he started saying that he thought she was hiding something and that she should just admit to taking the money. My mom was really upset and said that she was just trying to do the right thing and get the money back to the lady. The cop kept on her and said that everything pointed to my mom and that he could arrest her right there. He said that my mom shouldn't tell her family about what happened because we'd find out when a police car comes to pick her up. He finally let her leave, but he ended by saying that the lady was still outside and asked if my mom had anything to say to her. My mom said no, because she didn't take any money from the lady. This cop was interrogating my mom for an hour and a half.
We're going to go the the police station to file a complaint tomorrow, but I just don't think it's enough. This idiot shouldn't have a badge, in my opinion. I worked in security when I was just out of high school. People that steal don't return wallets to security or go up the person that lost the wallet and ask if they got it back. They take the money and throw the wallet away. I've seen it dozens of times. This piece of crap tried to bully a 56 year old woman, who was doing the decent thing and I want him and the security guard to pay for this.
