A man gave a ride to a homeless man, Edward "EJ" Belcher, 37, to the local Walmart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Once at the Walmart store, though, Belcher pulled out a handgun and robbed the victim of his money and debit card, kidnapped him, then went on a spending spree with the victim's debit card before finally returning the victim unharmed.
Belcher was later arrested.
From an article:
Later that morning, the victim decided to go to a nearby Wal-Mart and for unknown reasons, Belcher accompanied him, the warrant says.
On the way to the store, the victim stopped to withdraw $60 from an ATM. When the pair arrived at the Wal-Mart in the victim’s vehicle, Belcher pulled out a revolver and demanded the victim’s money, the warrant says.
The man gave Belcher $112, to which Belcher replied, “This is all you got?” according to the warrant.
The man, whose age was not available Thursday night, handed over his wallet, to which Belcher said, “What’s on your debit card?” The man begged Belcher not to take all his money, saying he had children to support, according to his account in the warrant.
The victim told authorities Belcher then pressed the gun against his head and demanded the PIN to the debit card. Belcher then ordered the victim to drive to a house on Florida Boulevard, where Belcher led him out of the vehicle at gunpoint and into the house.
There, the victim was told to sit on the couch and be quiet, the warrant says. Belcher then told someone in the house to watch over the victim while Belcher left and racked up nearly $500 on the man’s debit card.
The warrant doesn’t go into detail about what happened at the house while Belcher was gone, and a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office couldn’t be reached late Thursday.
Belcher returned later that morning to pick up the victim and take him back to the Super 8, the warrant says, where Belcher dropped off the victim and said he’d drive the victim’s vehicle to a parking lot behind the Olive Garden on Siegen Lane and leave it there.
The victim exited the vehicle and ran into the motel, then to the parking lot behind Olive Garden, where he found his car. When he returned back to the motel, he found deputies speaking with his wife, who had reported him missing earlier that morning.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
