No Lessons Learned from Holding “I am a Thief” Sign

Last year a judge ordered a northwest Indiana man to hold a sign at a busy intersection that said, “I am a thief.”

Seems like that “lesson” taught him nothing considering he got himself right back into trouble this week, the Sun-Times reports.

Shane Trentity Woodruff, 21, was charged with fraud, identity deception and theft. A Hobart police officer working security at Westfield Southlake Mall noticed Woodruff’s suspicious activity.

The officer asked a sales clerk about Woodruff’s activity and the clerk said he presented a woman’s ID and credit card, claiming it was his aunt’s card, but that the ID and those credit cards belonged to a woman whose purse was recently stolen from her broken into car.

Woodruff managed to spend a total of $690 before getting caught, according to court records reported the Sun Times. Just a few months ago, Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. placed Woodruff on an 18-month probation for two counts of theft.

Part of his punishment was to pay back over $2,000 and hold the “thief” sign on Christmas Eve for three hours.

The judge must have been in a giving mood for the holidays, because after the 30 minutes he wished Woodruff a Merry Christmas and sent him off. Maybe Woodruff thought being a thief wasn’t so bad after all since he was let off the hook the first time.