One Wallet To Go

Hark!

As of yesterday, I have successfully reassembled the important cards contained in my wallet, after having it stolen a couple of weeks ago.

Driver’s permit replaced? Check.

Bank client card replaced? Check.

Credit card replaced? Check.

Health insurance card replaced? As of yesterday, check!

My social insurance card was not in my wallet when it was stolen Friday March 29^th.

My wife and I had decided to stop at a restaurant in Laval for supper. We sat in the corner window at a table with four chairs around it. I sat in a chair directly opposite my wife and draped my coat over the back of the empty chair to my left. We finished eating and we drove home. Later that night, my son texted me to go pick him up at the train station, at which point I began searching for my wallet.

When I got back home, I retraced the events of the evening in my mind, in hopes of figuring out what happened to my wallet. I remembered that, at one point during our meal at the restaurant, someone seemed to sit very close to our table. The person had backed their chair up against the chair with my coat on it. I remember thinking that the restaurant must be getting crowded. A few moments later, I noticed that the people who'd been sitting at that table were gone, with no trace they had even eaten. I remember thinking at the time that it was strange.

The next day, Saturday, I met with a Laval police officer at the restaurant and explained my theory that someone may have pickpocketed my coat as it was draped over a chair while we ate. Police checked the videotape in the restaurant and discovered that is exactly what happened!

Two men sat down at a table near us. One was facing us and the other had his back to us. The one facing us signaled to the other when it was safe to reach behind and dig into my coat pockets. The suspects were quick, coming into the restaurant and leaving with my wallet within three minutes.

By the time I cancelled it late Friday night, the suspects had racked up $531 in charges on my credit card, including $125 at an Ultramar. Police checked the videotape at the gas station listed on my credit card bill, but were unable to pull a complete plate number. They used footage of the suspects’ faces coming into the restaurant to identify one of them and the individual was arrested. Last I heard, the thief was to appear for a bail hearing.

Thankfully, my bank told me I was not liable for the charges on my credit card.

Laval police Constable Rick Green was amazing, keeping us in the loop all the way through the investigation. Knowing authorities were actively investigating the theft made it much easier to bear. Thank-you to Laval police and Constable Green for his professionalism and empathy.

My son had his wallet stolen out of our driveway several months earlier.

In his song “Where Have All the Good People Gone?”, rocker Sam Roberts sings “the modern world is a cold, cold world.” For us anyway, one police officer made it a little warmer.