WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A lawmaker from Indiana is thanking BMV officials and the kindness of strangers for pulling through after a work trip to Washington, D.C. nearly went disastrously awry.
Nick Roberts, 23, is the councilor-elect for District 4 of the Indianapolis City-County Council representing the Geist and Castleton areas. He lost everything a person could possibly want on any work trip — let alone one to the nation's capital where visits to the vice president's home and White House are on the itinerary.
Roberts's wallet disappeared the very first day he hopped on a D.C. metro bus.
"Safe to say, losing my wallet was a big problem! I had all my forms of ID in there, all my cards and even $400 in cash (which I usually NEVER carry, but decided to bring for the trip)," Roberts wrote in an account of the ordeal on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a whirlwind 16 hours, Roberts was scheduled to be at the vice president's house, the White House and a flight home, all of which necessitated the security credentials in his lost wallet to enter.
But that's when officials with the Indiana BMV pulled through for the councilor-elect. They were able to print out a verifiable photo quickly for him, which allowed him to get into the events.
Longtime Congressman André Carson was also credited with helping out the newbie lawmaker through the mishap.
"Thanks to the generosity of many friends in DC, I had meals and Uber rides paid for since I had no way of paying for anything!" Roberts wrote.
Just hours before he would hop on a plane bound for Indianapolis, another twist came for Roberts: He received an email that his wallet was found, with all his cash and credentials untouched inside.
"In spite of how unlikely I thought it would be to get my wallet returned, I was wrong. No matter how it may seem, there are so many people who still care about others and will go above and beyond for them," Roberts wrote.
Roberts was able to collect his valuables before returning home to Indianapolis.
"All I have to say is THANK YOU!" Roberts said.
Roberts won his district by 7% against Republican Natalie Goodwin last November. He is one of the youngest councilors ever elected in the city.
