Something stolen, something found

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Sometimes in a singular situation, there’s both good news and bad news.

The good news coming from a recent Fayetteville Observer article is that 51-year-old Walter David Jackson of Wilmington has been located. Jackson was reported missing Sept. 12, three days after he was last seen by those who knew him, but was found alive and well Sept. 19.

Well, “well” may not be totally accurate. He was found alive and unharmed.

The bad news is, he was found by a police officer responding to a shoplifting call at the Ramsey Street Wal-Mart in Fayetteville, and Jackson was not only a missing person, he was the suspect.

According to a police spokesman, Jackson was arrested for larceny and possession of stolen property.

Good news, relatively speaking: Both crimes are misdemeanors.

More relative good news: His bond has been set at just $1,000. (Could be worse.)

Bad news: As of press time, he remains behind bars, unable to make bond. And of course, jail inherently has numerous subsets of what most of us would consider bad news.

And as an aside, if I may, let me close with a little tidbit of information. A few words of wisdom (not that NC Lawyers Weekly readers need them) from a former “cops and courts” reporter who has read a billion police reports: Do not try to steal from Wal-Mart. You have a better chance of going undetected after hopping the fence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW and waltzing, naked and armed with a bazooka, across the front lawn.