Teen accused of stealing speech signed by Obama

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Baton Rouge police say a student’s speech introducing President Barack Obama and autographed by the president was in a book bag stolen from her car.

But Cpl. Don Coppola Jr. says police arrested the alleged thief, found the bag in a trash bin, and returned the speech to Che’dra Joseph.

Her car was among vehicles broken into during a basketball game Friday at McKinley High, where Obama spoke Thursday.

Police say 17-year-old Keondrae Ricks was arrested Saturday, after trying to get cash after a purchase using a stolen credit card.

It was not clear whether he had an attorney who could comment.

Joseph tells WBRZ-TV she had tried to contact the White House to get another signed copy of her speech.

She says that while she was getting her car window fixed, police called to say they’d found the original.