ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – It only took seconds for Colleen Gallagher’s wallet to be stolen while she was shopping with her grandson Thursday at a local Aldi’s off of Sandlake Road.
“I never saw him. I never heard him. I did not know my grandson didn’t know until I got up to pay in. My wallet was gone,” said Gallagher.
Surveillance footage from the store showed the theft take place while her back was turned.
“I couldn’t even pay for my groceries because my husband had to get on the phone,” Gallagher said. “I had to get on the phone while I was here for two hours. We have no cards. We have our passports. I have no driver’s license; they have all my home information.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Gallagher says someone tried to swipe her cards for over $5,000 before she even got to the checkout line and noticed the wallet was stolen.
“Your husband is actually watching your things right now. You know, when it comes (to) how was your family reacting to my family, like I said, they can’t even watch the video,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher said she was with her grandson, who has Down syndrome and requires a lot of attention in stores.
“I have the groceries in there for him. It was a him trip, and he had to leave his ice cream, and he had to leave all of his stuff there,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher said she shut down her cards, and she’ll get her card replaced within the next two weeks. She wanted to share her story to show people how quickly this could happen and to be more vigilant.
News 6 has reached out to Aldi about the incident and is awaiting a response.