Bad Samaritan? Shopper gets phone back but learns something else stolen, NC sheriff says
A Food Lion shopper had his identity stolen and bank account frozen after someone stole his cellphone from his grocery cart, Lincoln County sheriff’s investigators said Friday.
In a seeming act of kindness, a woman called the shopper to say she had his cellphone and wanted to return it to him, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
The victim had already reported the phone as having been stolen during his March 18 grocery run, investigators said.
The woman handed him the phone after he dropped by her home to pick it up, Steele told investigators.
He soon tried to make a purchase with his bank card, but the purchase was denied due to insufficient funds, according to the news release. He checked his bank statements and found at least $2,000 in purchases he’d never made, sheriff’s officials said.
Jessica Ann Shull, a 27-year-old from Lincolnton was arrested Thursday and charged with obtaining property by false pretenses and financial identity theft. She was jailed on $12,500 bail pending further court action, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Bad Samaritan? Shopper gets phone back but learns something else stolen, NC sheriff says."