WEST NANTMEAL – A West Nantmeal man has moved into the lead for "Lowlife of the Year" after being arrested on theft and fraud charges after he allegedly stole and used his elderly father's credit card.
Tpr. Adam Dickinson of the State Police Embreeville station responded to a residence on the 2700 block of Creek Road, West Nantmeal, at around 15:32 Saturday after the victim reported that his son, Charles Theodore Wertz III, 28, had taken his credit card and was using it.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim told Tpr. Dickinson that he had spent two weeks in the hospital after undergoing surgery. While at the hospital, his personal belongings, including his wallet and credit card, were at his residence. The victim stated that on Wednesday, he had noticed his credit card was missing from his wallet. A subsequent check of his account activity saw 19 unauthorized charges with "cashover" returns – in which a customer would receive money over the amount of purchase as part of a transaction.
Wertz allegedly admitted to his father that he had used the credit card and using it without the victim's permission. He has also promised to pay the victim back and not use the card again.
The victim had gone to sleep on Friday evening with his wallet under his pillow. The victim awoke the following morning to discover his card was missing. After contacting the credit card company, it was discovered that the card had been used three times during the early morning hours on Saturday at the Elverson Wal-Mart on Pa. 23 in Caernarvon, Berks County. The card was subsequently cancelled by the victim.
The store manager at the Wal-Mart reviewed the transactions from the early morning hours on Saturday, which revealed that the victim's credit card was used three times between 00:58 and 01:03. Video surveillance of those transactions reportedly showed Wertz using the card during those times. Wertz allegedly purchased a pack of cigarettes in the first transaction, a candy bar in the second transaction, and a pack of gum with a $60.00 cash return on the third transaction.
After reviewing the video, Tpr. Dickinson was told by store employees that Wertz' vehicle was spotted in the parking lot of the store. Wertz' vehicle was reportedly parked near the trooper's patrol car.
Wertz was subsequently spotted in the store, attempting to make yet another transaction. When the trooper approached Wertz, the suspect allegedly claimed that he was "buying stuff" and that he had also admitted to using his father's credit card, "but that when he just tried to use it, the card no longer worked." He was then taken into custody.
Wertz was charged with 22 counts of Receiving Stolen Property, Access Device Fraud, TBUT, Forgery, and Identity Theft. During his arraignment in front of West Goshen District Judge William Kraut Saturday night, the trooper related that Wertz had been evicted from his parent's house, despite Wertz' claims to the contrary, and that troopers related the parents' concern that the defendant might harm himself.
Wertz was committed to CCP in lieu of 10 percent of $5,000 bail; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday in front of Honey Brook District Judge Michael Cabry (15-3-06, CR-0000170-09).
It would be difficult to call Wertz a "knucklehead" since he had no prior arrests or convictions leading up to Saturday's events. However, "stupid" certainly comes to mind.
It's bad enough that this lowlife is accused of taking advantage of his father, who had been in the hospital for two weeks. But to compound the stupidity by returning to the scene of the alleged crime and continuing to use the same card while a state trooper is at the aforementioned scene would appear to show that Wertz isn't exactly the smartest criminal in Unplugged's history.
It's also a shame that Unplugged was unable to get a mug shot of Wertz, complete with his Mohawk hair styling. Yes, dear readers, we have ourselves a real winner here…
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