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Good Samaritan Finds Wallet, Gets Wallet's Owner Arrested

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on May 24, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A Good Samaritan's found wallet, an arrest. Yes, a found wallet has led to it's owner gettubg arrested. By turning over the wallet in question to the police, someone's good act led to the Parker County arrest of Clayton Neil Stewart, 18, in Texas.

In a bizarre twist, police became suspicious when the wallet, found near a boat dock at Old Tin Top Road, contained 3 ID cards from other men from Utah, California and Texas, reports the Star-Telegram.

Stewart was contacted by police, where he said that he was simply collecting the identification cards that he had found. He was later arrested with fraudulent use and possession of identifying information, a felony.

Police then searched Stewart's car and found Vicodin tablets, 10 grams of marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia.

He was then charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana, reports the Star-Telegram.

Generally, identity theft laws prohibit individuals from using the identifying information of another person.

Under the relevant Texas statute, the person does not need to have actually committed fraudulent activity using the identifying information to violate the statute. So long as they have the intent to defraud or harm the other person, they have violated the statute, which is a felony that can come with jail time.

The lesson learned here seems to be that if you want to try a new hobby, collecting random people's state-issued IDs is probably not the way to go. Also, clean your car out and do not do drugs. You can get arrested for that.

This strange news story can be summed up easily with a rhyme: A found wallet led to a Parker County arrest. A Good Samaritan was just trying to do his best.

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