ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque police said an accused criminal tried to play lawyer with an officer in order to get a lesser charge, but it didn’t work because he didn’t know the law.
It all happened last month. Police were called to the Walmart, located at Wyoming and Academy. Employees there were trying to stall a man they said attempted to cash a forged check.
The check for was for $499.80 — 20 cents shy of $500 — and police said there’s a specific reason for that amount.
Albuquerque police said Sean Stolz, 45, planned his crime around what he knew and how to get away with the lightest punishment in case he got caught.
Surveillance video inside the store shows Stolz trying to purchase a printer. He signed the check and handed it over, but the cashier didn’t buy it. According to a criminal complaint, the check “appeared that it was made using a personal printer with the endorsement line on the wrong side.”
When Stolz was finally asked to leave, officers were waiting outside for him.
He was immediately detained. When the officer asked him where he got the check, Stolz blamed his wife. But he wanted to talk less about the check and more about the charges he faced after the officer broke it to him that it would be a felony.
“I thought a felony charge was over $500,” Stolz said.
Stolz thought he was getting away with a misdemeanor, but in New Mexico, anyone who attempts to commit forgery of $2,500 or less is charged with a fourth-degree felony.
It was a lesson learned for Stolz.
It didn’t stop there. Police discovered the car Stolz drove to Walmart was stolen. He told police his friend let him borrow it to go to the store.
Stolz is being held behind bars on charges related to another case of breaking and entering from 2013.
—-Send a Breaking News TipReport an error or typoLearn about the KRQE apps
