Man Admits Taking $90 From Lost Purse

Maybe Fred Giberson thought he had the luck of the Irish in the form of a brown leather purse he found outside the Giant on St. Patrick’s Day, 2011. Yes, he told police, he took the purse but mailed it back to its owner. And police released him.

But it turns out there was no such Irish luck.

About six months after his police interview, the 38-year-old Williams Township man admitted to finding the purse, taking $90 in cash from it and depositing the purse – which still contained such items as a cell phone, pen knife, toothpick holder and a 14-karat-gold card that was a retirement gift and worth $500 – in a Dumpster near where he works in Allentown, according to court records.

The records, which include a probable cause affidavit filed by , tell the following story that started almost a year ago and ended Wednesday (Jan. 25):

On the afternoon of March 17, 2011, a woman had been shopping at the , 801 S. 25th St. After loading her groceries into her vehicle, she forgot her purse in the cart she was using.

She returned to the Giant and found the purse was no longer in the cart.

She told police the purse, worth $45, contained the following items (with values listed):

• Keys with key fob, $100
• Padlock, $10
• Cash, $90
• Pen knife, $50
• New Jersey “PBA” (definition not specified) card made of 14 karat gold, $500
• Medication, $5
• Picture case, $5
• Black wallet, $15
• Cell phone, $300
• Cell phone case, $25
• Toothpick holder, $25
• Miscelllaneous items, $25

Two days later, the purse was found in a Dumpster by an employee at 26 Gordon Drive, Allentown, with the following items missing: the $90 in cash, the padlock and the pen knife.

Two days after that, Taylor learned from a Giant official that surveillance video showed a white male with a shaved, balding head, a green shirt and jeans in the parking lot removing an item from a shopping cart and placing it in the trunk of his vehicle.

The man in question entered the store and made a purchase using a Giant bonus club card, which came back to a woman living at 900 Berger Road, Apt. 3 – also the address of Fred Giberson.

About two months later, on May 17, Taylor interviewed Giberson, who said he found the purse in a cart after he had finished shopping. He took the purse and “a day or two later” brought it to a post office and mailed it back to the owner.

He denied any involvement in the theft and was released.

Almost six months passed, and on Nov. 10, Taylor again interviewed Giberson and advised him of the following:

• The surveillance video shows Giberson removing an item from a shopping cart and placing it in his vehicle before he shopped, not after as Giberson previously claimed.
• Neither the post office nor Giberson could confirm the purse had been mailed – there is no video proof or receipt of a mailing.
• The purse was found in the Dumpster on the day of or the day after Giberson claimed he mailed it.
• The Dumpster is about a block from Giberson’s place of employment.

After receiving Miranda warnings, Giberson told Taylor:

• He found the purse in the shopping cart and put it in his vehicle.
• He removed cash from the purse.
• He threw the purse in the Dumpster near where he works.

Giberson was arraigned Wednesday (Jan. 25) by of Palmer Township on a charge of theft of property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake. He was released on $3,500 unsecured bail.

The above arrest information was supplied by the office of District Judge Jackie Taschner. It does not indicate a conviction.