Carved Pumpkin Seized As Evidence After FL Credit Card Theft: Sheriff

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FL — A carved pumpkin was among evidence collected in a credit card theft investigation in Charlotte County, authorities said.

A Port Charlotte man was arrested on Halloween after fraudulently using a coworker’s credit card to purchase various items, including a pumpkin he carved and placed in front of his home, according to a Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Deputies responded to Chili’s in Port Charlotte Sunday to take a report of the theft and unauthorized use of an employee’s credit card. The victim told them that she thought she had dropped her wallet in the restaurant’s parking lot, but couldn’t find it after searching for it.

When she checked her bank statement, she noticed several charges that she didn’t make during the time her wallet was lost, the sheriff’s office said.

Detectives obtained security footage from local businesses at the times the unauthorized purchases were made there.

In each video, they saw the same man, Edward Atwood, 40, wearing a Chili’s baseball cap and using the victim’s credit card. In one video, he’s seen purchasing a case of beer and a pumpkin, CCSO said.

When deputies went to his home to speak with him, they noticed a freshly carved pumpkin in the driveway. The homeowner told them that Atwood would return soon and said he purchased the pumpkin on Saturday, matching the timeline of the video footage reviewed by detectives.

When he returned home, deputies contacted him and found the victim’s credit card, driver’s license and other cards in his wallet, the sheriff’s office said.

He was arrested and booked into the Charlotte County Jail, later bonding out.

“All jokes aside, it is sad that an individual would do this to anyone, but especially someone with whom they work. I guess I just have a higher expectation for coworkers, because we treat each other like family. Not everyone has that kind of relationship with others at work, but hopefully they don’t have people like this, either,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said.