BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested for allegedly stealing a wallet and using two of the credit cards inside.
Keanan Lee, 25, of Rock Cave, was arrested for two counts of fraudulent use of an access device, a felony, and one count of petit larceny, a misdemeanor.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Patrolman First Class Angel McCauley with the Buckhannon Police Department, on Saturday, May 15, McCauley responded to the Colonial Motel in reference to a wallet being stolen. Upon arriving, she was met by Jessica Gum, who stated she took off her hoodie, which had her keys and wallet in the pocket, and placed them down while she was working. A witness saw a male, later identified as Lee, allegedly pick something off the table.
When Gum went to look, she realized her small blue wallet was missing, but her keys and hoodie remained there. McCauley obtained still shots from the security footage that showed Lee leaving the area.
After identifying Lee, McCauley went to the Centennial Motel, where he was known to frequent, according to the police file. The front desk worker stated she witnessed him going into room 38, and once McCauley found Lee, she read him his Miranda rights. According to the report, at that time, he allegedly admitted to taking the wallet and offered to take McCauley to Jeanie’s Hotspot to recover the wallet.
After retrieving the wallet, Lee stated four to five cards were still in the room, and he had removed approximately $13 in cash from the wallet. After returning the wallet to Gum, Lee walked back to the room to retrieve and return the other five credit/debit cards that he had allegedly removed from the wallet. McCauley later received pictures of Gum’s credit card account that showed Lee used her credit card twice. The first entry amount was $37.44, and the second was $49.94.
Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis set bail at $12,500 cash or surety.
The penalty for petit larceny is confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year, a fine of up to $2,500 or both. In addition, the penalty for a conviction of fraudulent use of an access device is a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not more than 10 years or both.
