BUTLER TWP — Police used EBT card information to charge an alleged thief.

The suspect, Renee D. Hindley, 58, of Butler is accused of taking a man's lost wallet that she found Sept. 10 at the Walmart at Butler Commons shopping plaza.

The owner told police that he was at the self-checkout register and had placed his wallet on one of the machines. He noticed the register he was using did not accept cash so he moved onto another register, according to court documents.

Only after he scanned his last item did he realized he had left his wallet behind on the first register. But when he went back to retrieve the wallet, it was gone.

The wallet contained $43 in currency, credit/bank cards and his driver's license.

Police said they reviewed surveillance video that showed a woman using the first register. She paid for her items with an EBT card, documents said, and then took the bagged merchandise and the man's wallet.

“(The suspect) walks quickly and directly past (the victim),” according to a police affidavit, and “straight out the doors.”

Police later got a search warrant to allow them to access the EBT card owner's information and identified Hindley as the suspect. Her EBT number was on the receipt, police noted.

The victim on Oct. 8 notified police that his bank debit card, which was in the wallet, had been used three times on or about Sept. 11 at the GetGo convenience store on Route 8 in Butler Township.

Police on Friday interviewed Hindley at the station. She admitted that she was the woman seen on the surveillance video but she denied taking the wallet or using the debit card.

Hindley is accused only of taking the wallet. She is charged by summons with theft of lost or mislaid property and receiving stolen property.

Police said that since there is no available security footage at the GetGo, they were unable to identify and charge the person who used the victim's debit card.