ROBBED AT THE MALL -- me and Scotty

I got ROBBED yesterday. It was all very classic. My purse was hanging on the chair BETWEEN me and Scotty, my husband of 35 years, at the mall food court. We were eating our Sarbo Japanese -- (formerly Edo). This wonderful, polite young black man in beautiful clothes walked up and asked us for directions to Martin High School. While we were carefully and diligently giving directions, his "friend" was behind us stealing my wallet out of my purse. A couple of guys across the food court from us noticed it and hollered to us. We ALL started chasing the young man who spoke to me and Scott. We caught up with him and Scott GRABBED his arm. This guy was about twice Scotty's size. He kept saying he didn't know what we were talking about and that he had to pick up his cousin at Martin High School -- that was the reason he needed the directions. Scott said, "You're going nowhere. You stole my wife's wallet." (At this point we really were confused because we never even saw the other partner in crime. We were just going by what another guy told us that he saw. But we knew that the young man we were pursuing was involved somehow.) All this time a young man following behind us is contacting the police.

Finally, the suspect sort of shook Scott off and bolted out the main entrance of the mall, jumped in a cooool old classic cutlass, (with no license tag), and blew out of that parking lot. I'm yelling to everyone "That man stole my wallet." By this time mall security was hot on the trail and a couple of regular cars followed them as well over to the Jason's Deli area. I'm standing there in the middle of the mall parking lot thinking that my credit cards, driver's license, insurance card, etc, etc, will have to be canceled and renewed -- an enormous hassle-ridden task that has repercussions for many months or years. At this point we can't see anything. The action has gone too far from our line of vision. But the young man on the phone continued talking to police and he would occasionally pause and tell us that the police have spotted them, or the police think they have him, etc. I'm hopeless thinking the wallet is gone and my life just got WAY more complicated. Plus, in the back of your mind is the fact that my driver's license has my address on it, so maybe they'll come to the house and try to rob that. So I was pretty low.

Next, a mall security officer drives up to me and Scotty and says the police have these perps, and would we please ride with him to ID these guys. Scott's car was nearby, so we followed the mall security vehicle over to that old movie theatre parking lot on Arbrook. There are three cop cars and about six officers and one of the young criminals is sitting on the ground against a squad car, CUFFED. The young man who spoke to us needing directions to Martin, was sitting in the back seat of another police car. Our eyes were big. We were told to stay in the car. The police officers came over to our car sort of in a one-after-another sequence and would talk to us and ask us questions. One of them hollered to the other officers to stand up the young thieves one at a time so we could see them. Scotty asked the young officer about the wallet and he told us that the hooligans threw it away once they saw all those cars chasing them, but the police were searching for it. So our problem still loomed. Then, in a little while, another officer came over and said they had recovered the wallet!!! They had previously asked how much cash I had in it and I thought it was approximately $50. Me or Scott didn't know precisely. (Scott often knows because he keeps it stocked. He had loaded it the previous morning, but he never has any way of knowing what I've spent in 24 hours -- and I sure don't know.) So the cop asked if it might possibly be $76. I said very possibly. So, I guess that checked out.........Apparently, one of the robbers had $76 in his wallet and he told the cop it was my money. Then, he commenced to tell the cops where they ditched the purse. The cop told us that's the best kind of confession -- the cops went straight to some bushes over by Jason's Deli, and there it was..........So, a little while later, up walks a wonderful -- they were ALL wonderful -- Arlington police officer and gives me my fully packed wallet. All the stuff in it was in different pockets, but it was all there -- right down to the Foley's coupon!!

The police officer explained that he and some other cops were sitting in plain cars in the mall parking lot because there had been a rash of car thefts. So, when they got word that these kids were running out of the mall, they blew RIGHT BY his unmarked car. He took off after them and made the collar. He was so cute, delighted as he told about it. He said in five years of law-enforcement, he's never had the criminals run practically into his arms. He said usually when a crime is committed, he's across town somewhere. Anyway, that's why I couldn't see that the police ever got into the act -- they were in a plain cars sitting there on the parking lot, and they were the ones we saw take off after our thieves. This all took place over about an hour. They asked me if I wanted to press charges and I said yes. And they booked those guys and drove them away -- and towed off that coool old cutlass. I was late picking up our son at our meeting place at the mall, but I told him that THIS time I have a good excuse.