On Sept. 5, a Florida man who has been wanted for years for allegedly stealing credit card information was taken into custody. The man, age 34, was recognized by a store employee as he was shopping at a Deltona Wal-Mart located near the State Road 415 and Howland Boulevard.
Authorities said that detectives learned that the wanted man frequently shopped at that particular Wal-Mart location. They showed pictures of the man to store employees and asked that they give the police a call if they see him. The worker recognized the man and made the call. He now faces multiple fraud and identity theft charges.
The accused man was a fugitive for about five years. He had arrest warrants dating back to 2012 in several counties and it was suspected that he was involved in a 2014 mail theft case. Authorities believed that he used stolen credit cards to pay off the debt on other credit cards so that he could extend his line of credit. It was believed that he had purchased vehicles using stolen cards.
Although white collar crimes are generally not violent in nature, prosecutors and other law enforcement agencies take these accusations seriously due to the harm it can cause. However, there are cases where the evidence does not support the allegations. If a person is accused of identity theft but there is a lack of evidence or evidence that authorities did not follow proper procedures during the investigation or when taking the accused person into custody, a criminal law attorney could mount a strong defense. The defense strategy could include finding inconsistencies in the police testimony or the evidence.
Source: News Journal Online, “‘Catch Me If You Can’ identity theft suspect captured in Deltona“, Patricio Balona, Sept. 5, 2017
