Man charged after stolen cards found under soles of shoes

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man was charged after stolen debit cards, credit cards, identification cards and checks were found underneath the soles of his shoes.

Grant County prosecutors charged David Valle Jr., 45, of Moses Lake, with five counts of second-degree possession of stolen property.

On Wednesday a Moses Lake Police Department officer was on patrol in the 2000 block of West Broadway Avenue and reportedly noticed Valle in a vehicle he passed. The officer learned Valle had an active felony warrant out for his arrest and pulled over the vehicle, which Valle was riding in along the 1100 block of West Broadway Avenue, according to police records.

Valle was placed into handcuffs and “immediately” told the officer he had some credit cards inside of his shoes that didn’t belong to him. He reportedly told police a woman on Grand Drive gave him the cards. He said he didn’t know what the woman wanted him to do with the cards and stated he “just wanted to get rid of them so he didn’t get in trouble for having them.”

“I (the MLPD officer) asked him if the cards were stolen and he said that they were. I asked him how he knew that and then he told me he didn’t know but assumed they were stolen,” wrote the officer. “I asked him if he stole the cards and he denied taking them.”

Valle later said the woman didn’t give the cards to him and advised she had left them at a Grand Drive home and he decided to take them. He said he took the cards to get rid of them and hadn’t tried to use them.

The cards were reportedly located under the soles of Valle’s shoes and were stolen during three incidents on April 14. Two wallets were stolen from vehicles along Viking Road Northwest and one wallet was stolen from a vehicle along Shorecrest Drive Northeast.

Police also found a credit card and a check issued in the name of a Moses Lake resident, but couldn’t find any evidence of the resident reporting them as stolen. Police located a check in the name of an Auburn resident, but could not find any evidence of the person reporting the check as stolen, according to police records.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.