MOBILE, Ala. — A 58-year-old Mobile man is facing a felony charge after police say he used a debit card from a wallet another man lost along Azalea Road, making unauthorized purchases at a fast-food restaurant and a gas station before the card’s owner could stop them. The lost debit card arrest came Monday, Oct. 26, roughly a month after the victim first reported the wallet missing.
Mobile police identified the man as David Jerome Bobo. He was taken to Mobile County Metro Jail and charged with fourth-degree theft of lost property, a misdemeanor, and fraudulent use or possession of a credit or debit card, a felony. Police said he is being held with bond.
Bobo has only been accused of these offenses. Like anyone charged with a crime, he is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
A missing wallet and charges that didn’t belong
According to the Mobile Police Department, the case began at about 6:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, when a man contacted police to report that he had lost his wallet. He was not certain where he had dropped it, but he told officers he believed it had been lost near the 400 block of Azalea Road in west Mobile.
By the time he made the report, the man had already spotted a problem: several transactions on his debit card that he had not made, police said.
Officers followed the trail of those transactions. Investigators determined that a man had used the victim’s card without permission at a Burger King and a Shell gas station on Government Boulevard, according to police.
How police tracked down a suspect
Detectives kept working the case in the weeks that followed and eventually identified a person of interest, police said. Officers then located that man, and on Monday, Oct. 26, they arrested Bobo and took him to Metro Jail.
Police have not said how investigators identified Bobo, what was spent with the card or whether the wallet and its other contents were ever recovered. Card-fraud investigations often rely on transaction records from banks and merchants, which show the exact time and place a card was used, along with security video from the businesses where purchases were made. Police did not say which of those tools, if any, were used in this case.
Azalea Road and Government Boulevard are both busy commercial corridors in west Mobile, lined with restaurants, gas stations, shopping centers and offices.
The charges in the lost debit card arrest
Jail records list two charges against Bobo:
- Theft of lost property, fourth degree: a misdemeanor
- Credit card possession, fraudulent use: a felony
Under Alabama law, a person can commit theft of lost property by taking control of property they know was lost or mislaid and failing to take reasonable steps to return it to its owner. The degrees of that offense track the state’s general theft law, with fourth degree, the lowest level, generally covering property valued at $500 or less.
Alabama also makes it a separate crime to use a credit or debit card without the cardholder’s consent to obtain goods, services or money. Because that charge is a felony, it carries more serious potential penalties than the misdemeanor theft charge, and a felony case will generally move through Mobile County District Court before it can be presented to a grand jury.
Charges listed at the time of arrest are not final. Prosecutors with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office will review the case, and the charges that ultimately go forward can differ from those filed by police.
What happens next
In Alabama, a person arrested on a felony charge typically goes before a judge for an initial appearance soon after booking, where the charges are read, the right to an attorney is explained and bond conditions are set or reviewed. Police said Bobo is being held with bond, meaning he can be released if the bond amount is posted and any conditions are met. The bond amount was not released.
From there, a defendant facing a felony can request a preliminary hearing in district court, where a judge decides only whether there is probable cause for the case to continue. If it does, the case can be presented to a Mobile County grand jury, which decides whether to return an indictment and send the case to circuit court.
What to do if you lose your wallet
The case is a reminder of how quickly a lost wallet can turn into a financial headache. In this instance, the victim had already noticed charges he didn’t make by the time he contacted police. Consumer protection agencies and banks generally recommend a few quick steps when a wallet or card goes missing:
- Lock or cancel your cards right away. Most banks let customers freeze a debit or credit card instantly through a mobile app or website, or by calling the number on the back of the card.
- Report the loss to your bank promptly. Under federal rules for debit cards, a customer’s liability for unauthorized transactions is limited to $50 if the loss is reported within two business days of learning about it, and it can rise to $500 or more the longer a customer waits. For credit cards, federal law caps a cardholder’s liability for unauthorized charges at $50, and many issuers waive even that.
- Review recent transactions. Look for purchases you don’t recognize and flag them to your bank as fraud.
- File a police report. A report documents the loss and any fraud, and it can help investigators if the card is used. In Mobile, residents can contact the Mobile Police Department.
- Replace your ID and watch for identity theft. If a driver’s license or other identification was in the wallet, request a replacement and consider placing a fraud alert with the credit bureaus. The Federal Trade Commission’s IdentityTheft.gov website walks victims through recovery steps.
It also helps to keep a list, stored somewhere safe, of the cards you carry and the phone numbers to report them lost, so you can act quickly if the worst happens.
If you find a lost wallet
Anyone who finds a lost wallet, purse or card can avoid legal trouble by trying to return it. Options include turning it in to the business where it was found, contacting the owner through identification inside, dropping it off at a police precinct or calling the bank listed on a card. Using a card that belongs to someone else, even one that was found on the ground, can lead to criminal charges.
Anyone with information about this case or other card fraud can contact the Mobile Police Department or submit an anonymous tip through Mobile County Crime Stoppers.
