Candy thief claims Iraq veteran status

Someone sent me this article about some clown in Florida who claimed he was an Iraq war veteran which gave him the “right” to steal as many M&Ms as he wanted;

I called the Fort Pierce, Florida Police Department to see if they’d verified his veteran status and the helpful young lady told me that they hadn’t but she pointed me to this article in the local news, which identified the man as Eric T. Ambrose.

Handsome devil, isn’t he?

The first thing I did was check Military.com‘s Buddy Finder and found no Eric T. Ambrose with a military record;

So I asked the good folks at POW Net to help out. Their initial check of his records makes his claim as a veteran very doubtful since he has an extensive arrest record including domestic violence and cocaine possession;

ERIC T AMBROSE 09/10/1977 CIRCUIT FELONY
Select 562002CF002112AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 09/10/1977 CIRCUIT FELONY
Select 562004CF003466AXXXXX ERIC AMBROSE 10/18/2004 09/10/1977 CIRCUIT FELONY
Select 562007CF001334AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 03/15/2007 09/10/1977 CIRCUIT FELONY
Select 562007CF001335AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 03/15/2007 09/10/1977 CIRCUIT FELONY
Select 562002CT000580AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 02/09/2002 09/10/1977 CRIMINAL TRAFFIC
Select 562003CT003781AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 07/20/2003 09/10/1977 CRIMINAL TRAFFIC
Select 562003CT003781AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 12/17/2003 09/10/1977 CRIMINAL TRAFFIC
Select 562007CT001382AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 03/09/2007 09/10/1977 CRIMINAL TRAFFIC
Select 562008DR002258AXXXHC ERIC AMBROSE (RESPONDENT) 08/04/2008 09/10/1977 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Select 562003MM005203AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 11/13/2003 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR
Select 562003MM005203AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 12/18/2003 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR
Select 562007MM001187AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 03/09/2007 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR
Select 562007MM004004AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 08/07/2007 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR
Select 562008MM001032AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 02/29/2008 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR Yes
Select 562008MM001775BXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 04/21/2008 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR Yes
Select 562008MM001776AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 04/21/2008 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR
Select 562008MM004044AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 09/11/2008 09/10/1977 MISDEMEANOR
Select 562007TR011425AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 03/09/2007 09/10/1977 TRAFFIC INFRACTION
Select 562007TR011426AXXXXX ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE 03/09/2007 09/10/1977 TRAFFIC INFRACTION

Charge Count 1 OBTS 5601041828
Offense Date 05/04/2002 Arrest Date 05/04/2002
Arrest Charge POSSESSION OF COCAINE Arrest Class F-3, 893.13(6)(a)
Pros Charge POSSESSION OF COCAINE Conviction Charge POSSESSION OF COCAINE
Dispositon Adjudicated Guilty Plea Plea: NC – Before Trial

Case Number:
Ticket Number: 2003CT003781
501621X Defendant Name ERIC THOMAS AMBROSE
PORT SAINT LUCIE FL, 34953
Race:
Sex: WHITE
MALE Date of Birth: 09/10/1977 Violation Date: 07/20/2003
Date Entered:
Filed Date: 07/31/2003
07/22/2003 Charge: DRIVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Verdict: GUILTY (Court Only)
Charge: VIOLATION OF PROBATION
Verdict: GUILTY-MANDATORY IMPRISONMENT

POW Net has filed to check if he has any military record, though it seems more of a fantasy at this point – as soon as they get back to me, I’ll update this story – but so far, it looks like this clown is trying to wrap himself in the same flag that he’s never done anything to defend.

The cocaine charge was a year before the Iraq War – it’s pretty doubtful he has any service since then.

Feel free to hate in the comments.

UPDATE: Now see this is what pisses me off the most about this story. In this article, WPBF TV an ABC affiliate just takes for granted that Ambrose is a homeless veteran without a bit of research;

They don’t question his claim that he was in Iraq or that he was a veteran (even though a few hours of checking around from my home computer has cast some credible doubt on the claim) – just his claim that he should get free candy. They admit in the story that he lied to police about whether he had purchased the items he stole, but he must be telling the truth about being a homeless veteran. I hate the media.

Category: Phony soldiers