DPD Seeks ID Of Three Individuals In Theft, Credit Card Fraud Case
Thursday, May 25th, 2023
The Dalton Police Department is asking for the public's help to identify two people who were recorded using stolen credit cards to make fraudulent purchases last week. The cards were apparently stolen from a woman's purse while she was shopping at a different store. One of the purchases was successful while the others were denied by the credit card companies. The suspects were with a third person who is considered a person of interest.
The incident happened on May 19th. A woman told police that she was shopping at the Walnut Avenue Kroger at approximately 2:30 pm for about an hour. While shopping, she left her purse in her shopping cart. At some point during her shopping trip, her wallet was taken from her purse while it was unattended. The victim did not realize that her wallet was missing until she tried to check out with her groceries. At about the same time, she began to get text messages from her different credit card accounts asking to confirm purchases. The fraudulent purchases were being attempted at the Shugart Road Walmart. She denied the charges and immediately began to call and cancel her bank cards. The victim's wallet was a brown Guess brand wallet valued at approximately $50. It contained the victim's driver's license, a health savings account card, and various bank and credit cards.
A Dalton detective was able to retrieve surveillance video from Walmart of the fraudulent purchases and determined that two suspects, a man and a woman, were using the stolen cards. The pair was seen leaving the store with a third individual. The two suspects were using different self-checkout stations at the store. The female suspect first scanned a pre-paid Visa debit card and loaded $500 on it using one of the victim's credit cards. That transaction was completed successfully. The female suspect then tried again to load money onto a second pre-paid Visa debit card. This time, however, the transaction did not go through. The suspect tried again, and then walked away from the register with the card she managed to purchase. The male suspect did not have as much luck. He attempted two transactions, one for a pre-paid Visa debit card in the amount of $500 and a second for a prepaid money card in the amount of $200 but both transactions were denied. The suspect then left the cards at the checkout and left the store. The two suspects were seen on video meeting up with a second man outside who is a person of interest and the three left the area together on foot.
The female suspect wore a gray Adidas hat pulled low on her face and a black and white striped shirt with blue jeans and black tennis shoes. She was carrying a tan bag and a pink wallet. The male suspect was wearing a gray Puma sweatshirt, blue jeans, and had a blue Covid mask. He was balding. The pair met up outside with a second man who was wearing a gray Reebox t-shirt and jeans.
Anyone who recognizes these suspects is asked to please contact Officer Emily Thornton at 706-278-9085, extension 627 or by email at ethornton@daltonga.gov.
Below: The female suspect and the male suspect (wearing mask, middle picture) were seen leaving the store with a third person of interest wearing the Reebok t-shirt. If you can identify any of these individuals, please contact Officer Thornton
