A homeless man in Leesburg was arrested for theft after stealing a purse from a Wawa employee working the register.
An officer responded to Wawa, located at 1400 W. North Blvd., regarding a theft, later found to involve 47-year-old Eduardo Diaz Velez, at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer met with the victim who advised that she was an employee working the cash register at the gas station. She left the register to finish a different task and placed her purse on the counter near the register. When she came back, the purse was missing. She notified her manager, and they reviewed the surveillance footage, the report said.
While doing so, the victim observed Velez by the register at 4:17 a.m. He grabbed her purse, left the gas station, got into a white pickup truck and vacated the area. The items inside the $30 purse included $80 Doze Mushroom coffee, $65 Chanel White perfume, $10 unknown book, $300 prescription sunglasses, and her house and car keys, the report said.
The victim advised that the keys had a Wawa lanyard attached to them, and one of the keys had a blue rubber label on it. She also said miscellaneous mementos from her deceased mother were inside the purse, but she could not say the value of those items, the report said.
The officer then reviewed the video recordings of the incident. He identified Velez due to multiple previous interactions with him and the tattoos on his forearm, including a large black lion on the top of his right forearm, the report said.
While on scene, another officer spotted Velez walking on the roadway east of Wawa. Both officers detained him and read him his rights, which he understood. He was in possession of a blackish gray bag that had the victim’s keys attached to it. He stated the bag was his, the report said.
Velez advised that he found the keys on the bag nearby, but everything else inside the bag belonged to him. He continuously denied being at the gas station or stealing the purse. He later said he would tell the officers where the purse was at but would not say unless the victim did not prosecute him, the report said.
The officers searched the area for the stolen purse but did not find it. The keys found on Velez’ bag were later returned to the victim, the report said.
Velez was arrested on charge of petit theft (greater than $100 less than $750). The native of Puerto Rico was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $1,000.