Former Gopher Derrick Wells arrested for grand theft

BleedGopher

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per the News Press:

Derrick Wells, a standout football player at Lehigh Senior High and the University of Minnesota, was arrested on third degree felony grand theft charges.

Wells allegedly took $5,000 out of a wallet he found at the Lee County Justice Center on March 10, according to court documents. He was arrested on a warrant in Hillsborough County and transported to Lee County Jail on Wednesday, where he remained in custody Thursday afternoon with bail set at $5,000.

Wells, a 2011 Lehigh graduate, played four seasons as a defensive back at Minnesota, starting eight of 13 games his senior season with 40 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent in May 2015, but was cut before the end of training camp with a non-football injury designation.

Wells is accused of finding a wallet left on a seat in the Family Court Services waiting area. Video surveillance showed a man sit on the wallet, look inside it, then put it with his papers and leave. A young boy found the wallet empty in the bathroom and turned it in to authorities. The clerk that assisted Wells identified him in a photo lineup as the person she helped before he left her window and sat on the wallet.

http://www.news-press.com/story/spo...derrick-wells-arrested-grand-theft/346997001/

Go Gophers!!
 

Hmmm. Exactly $5k in a wallet left on a bench in a county facility. Not excusing what he did, but this sounds like a set up or even entrapment.
 

Hmmm. Exactly $5k in a wallet left on a bench in a county facility. Not excusing what he did, but this sounds like a set up or even entrapment.

My first thought as well.
 

What denominations would even fit in a wallet to make $5K? Sounds fishy.
 

What denominations would even fit in a wallet to make $5K? Sounds fishy.

3 $5 bills and 4,985 $1 bills. Here's a photo of what was just sitting open on the chair.

Fat_Wallet_by_ellisar.jpg


Go Gophers!!
 


Yikes. Bad ethical decision but I am glad I never had to make that decision.
 

3 $5 bills and 4,985 $1 bills. Here's a photo of what was just sitting open on the chair.

Fat_Wallet_by_ellisar.jpg


Go Gophers!!

Too funny. I would buy it if the report was of an envelop with that amount. Could see some of those floating around the courthouse...you know, for grease payments.
 

50 $100 bills at .0043 thickness per bill is less than a 1/4 inch thick. Still think it is odd that the wallet is "just siting around" with that much cash and certainly a bit of bad judgment here but it is not going to look like the wallet pictured (understanding you're just joking anyway).
 

I have no idea why someone would leave a wallet with that much money, but it happened in my front yard. An Hispanic lawn worker dropped his wallet with $4K in it while working on our yard. He likely didn't have a bank account in the US. After they left our yard, a neighbor found the wallet and reported it to me. I called the company to ask if they had an employee by the name on the drivers license, and they did.
I'm sure he was grateful that people would do the right thing to return it to him.
I feel sorry for Derrick that he didn't have the character to do the right thing. I understand how a lapse of judgment could happen, but it doesn't excused it.
Character is what you do when people aren't looking. He defined his lack thereof.
 



per the News Press:

Derrick Wells, a standout football player at Lehigh Senior High and the University of Minnesota, was arrested on third degree felony grand theft charges.

Wells allegedly took $5,000 out of a wallet he found at the Lee County Justice Center on March 10, according to court documents. He was arrested on a warrant in Hillsborough County and transported to Lee County Jail on Wednesday, where he remained in custody Thursday afternoon with bail set at $5,000.

Wells, a 2011 Lehigh graduate, played four seasons as a defensive back at Minnesota, starting eight of 13 games his senior season with 40 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent in May 2015, but was cut before the end of training camp with a non-football injury designation.

Wells is accused of finding a wallet left on a seat in the Family Court Services waiting area. Video surveillance showed a man sit on the wallet, look inside it, then put it with his papers and leave. A young boy found the wallet empty in the bathroom and turned it in to authorities. The clerk that assisted Wells identified him in a photo lineup as the person she helped before he left her window and sat on the wallet.

http://www.news-press.com/story/spo...derrick-wells-arrested-grand-theft/346997001/

Go Gophers!!

Possession is 9/10 of the .... Makes me wonder if the "rightful" owner would have gotten a full wallet had Wells returned it. Anyway, being on both sides of that fence (losing a wallet and returning someone's wallet) wish he would have returned it, but it's not for me to judge him.
 

Maybe I'm just an apologist, but this shouldn't be a felony grand theft charge. Finding a wallet and taking the money inside is certainly the wrong thing to do, but this is also a far cry from what I think of when I hear grand theft. ( I understand the dollar amount determines the crime)
 





I'm a little nervous. I found a $5 bill on the ground outside of McDonald's in Excelsior in 1993 and kept it for myself. Is there a warrant out for my arrest?
 


I'm a little nervous. I found a $5 bill on the ground outside of McDonald's in Excelsior in 1993 and kept it for myself. Is there a warrant out for my arrest?

I've just notified the police. The Excelsior PD is expecting you to turn yourself over around 3pm today. Should I let them know you're the guilty individual they've been looking for all these years?
 

I have no idea why someone would leave a wallet with that much money, but it happened in my front yard. An Hispanic lawn worker dropped his wallet with $4K in it while working on our yard. He likely didn't have a bank account in the US. After they left our yard, a neighbor found the wallet and reported it to me. I called the company to ask if they had an employee by the name on the drivers license, and they did.
I'm sure he was grateful that people would do the right thing to return it to him.
I feel sorry for Derrick that he didn't have the character to do the right thing. I understand how a lapse of judgment could happen, but it doesn't excused it.
Character is what you do when people aren't looking. He defined his lack thereof.

There are still a lot of people who just carry a lot of cash all the time, even if they do have an account. People essentially have an account for the sole purpose of direct deposit. Then they just withdraw all or most of it as soon as it is deposited. Makes no sense to me.
 

I've just notified the police. The Excelsior PD is expecting you to turn yourself over around 3pm today. Should I let them know you're the guilty individual they've been looking for all these years?

I'll take my medicine. Tell the nice officers to expect a slight, elderly Korean woman around 3pm.
 


My brother once found a money clip with $1600 on the dance floor of a nightclub. He took it to the police who held for 60 days and then gave it back to him.

In related news, two separate incidents of Winnipeggers finding huge (police didn't say exact amount but sounded 10s of thousands in a bag both times) amounts of money in the last year. No one has come forward in either incident.
 

Entrapment or no, he had a choice to take the money or turn the wallet in. He chose the money. The young boy made a better moral choice than the adult, and that says everything we need to know about Mr. Wells.
 

Hopefully we don't find out that Derrick has been hanging out with former Badger RBs. That would be unforgivable on many levels.
 

Wells' biggest mistake was dumping the wallet where it could be found. Obviously, the right thing to do would be to not take the money and try and track down the owner (although anybody who carries that kind of cash is probably no angel) but I don't think this should be a crime. If you had nothing to do with the person 'losing' the wallet, I don't think you should have to go out of your way to correct someone else's mistake. For all Wells knew, this guy could have been attempting to shed all of his possessions an was leaving an anonymous gift to whoever was lucky enough to find it. I, personally, would have been a little apprehensive of this specific situation because it was in a courthouse and I would have assumed there was cameras - but if I found $5K on the street - I would definitely keep it.
 

The hard part about this is I read a story a few years ago about a kid who found a bag with $16K in it on the side of the road and "did the right thing" and turned it in. The police seized it as evidence in a drug crime "since it was obviously drug related", and though no one ever claimed it, the city kept it which they could. Basically since it was "related" to a potential drug crime they could hold it indefinitely.

Had the kid never turned it in he'd be $16K richer. The money wouldn't be sitting in an evidence for X number of years then turned over to the state for "disposal" which means disbursement into the General Fund.

It's supposed to be where you turn something in, if it's unclaimed after 30 days it's yours. But when it comes to this kind of money, they tend to find excuses not to do that.

What they don't say in the article is whether the wallet had an ID in it or not. If not, I'd say it's fair game. If so, then yes, turn it in or get it to the owner.

My guess is this will be dropped down to a misdemeanor or less for "failure to report found money". He'll give the money back (either to the owner or the PD) and pay a small fine. Probably falls off his record in 5 years if no other incidents.

The sad part is, I wouldn't be surprised if it was "left" there as a bribe for someone. A wallet is a little more subtle than an envelope.
 

Wells' biggest mistake was dumping the wallet where it could be found. Obviously, the right thing to do would be to not take the money and try and track down the owner (although anybody who carries that kind of cash is probably no angel) but I don't think this should be a crime. If you had nothing to do with the person 'losing' the wallet, I don't think you should have to go out of your way to correct someone else's mistake. For all Wells knew, this guy could have been attempting to shed all of his possessions an was leaving an anonymous gift to whoever was lucky enough to find it. I, personally, would have been a little apprehensive of this specific situation because it was in a courthouse and I would have assumed there was cameras - but if I found $5K on the street - I would definitely keep it.
I'm not connecting your varied points of view on this. If you can ID the person or business that money belongs to, you notify them. If there is no way to ID them, different story.
 

The hard part about this is I read a story a few years ago about a kid who found a bag with $16K in it on the side of the road and "did the right thing" and turned it in. The police seized it as evidence in a drug crime "since it was obviously drug related", and though no one ever claimed it, the city kept it which they could. Basically since it was "related" to a potential drug crime they could hold it indefinitely.

Had the kid never turned it in he'd be $16K richer. The money wouldn't be sitting in an evidence for X number of years then turned over to the state for "disposal" which means disbursement into the General Fund.

It's supposed to be where you turn something in, if it's unclaimed after 30 days it's yours. But when it comes to this kind of money, they tend to find excuses not to do that.

What they don't say in the article is whether the wallet had an ID in it or not. If not, I'd say it's fair game. If so, then yes, turn it in or get it to the owner.

My guess is this will be dropped down to a misdemeanor or less for "failure to report found money". He'll give the money back (either to the owner or the PD) and pay a small fine. Probably falls off his record in 5 years if no other incidents.

The sad part is, I wouldn't be surprised if it was "left" there as a bribe for someone. A wallet is a little more subtle than an envelope.
The Government's morality about confiscating money isn't much better than D. Wells.
 

What a dope.

This is what I'm thinking. All he had to do was return it. If no one claims it then he would have gotten it. At worse he would have gotten an reward most likely. Instead he is now enjoying jail and more charges. What a dope.
 


I don't think this should be a crime. If you had nothing to do with the person 'losing' the wallet, I don't think you should have to go out of your way to correct someone else's mistake.

+100. This has to get thrown out. Grand Theft? What a crock.

I hate to be cynical :)-)), but this absolutely has to be a setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

+100. This has to get thrown out. Grand Theft? What a crock.

I hate to be cynical :)-)), but this absolutely has to be a setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The money was in a wallet readily identifiable. If you find it, you have the choice of leaving it there or turning it over to authorities, keeping the money is theft period.
 




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