Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
A St. Louis firefighter who was accused of using a credit card that belonged to the victim of a vehicular accident he responded to last year, has pled guilty to receiving stolen property and fraudulent use of a credit card. Arnold S. Britt, 41, pled guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor charge, and in the process admitted to stealing the man’s wallet and credit card.
The accident occurred on February 28, 2023 and involved a vehicle accident that injured Seven Robinson, age 18. Following the accident, Robinson reported that his wallet was missing. He told police he recalled being asked for his ID at the scene and while his ID was returned, he never got his wallet back. Robinson later reported that several charges were made on one of his credit cards outside of city limits.
Britt, 40 at the time, was initially placed under investigation by St. Louis detectives when police body cam footage from the accident scene showed a man matching his description asking Robinson for his wallet. The video then showed the man removing the wallet from Robinson’s pocket, looking at it, and handing Robinson’s identification to a police officer. Two battalion chiefs were able to identify the man as Britt. Detectives were also able to locate surveillance video that put Britt’s personal vehicle at the locations where the credit card transactions occurred.
Britt remains on administrative leave from the department. He faces up to 5 years in prison when sentenced in September.
