Woman Suspected In Multiple ID Thefts Did It "To Buy Groceries"

Forget those guys who held up a Taco Bell just to score some apple empanadas. That’s small-time compared to the Tacoma-area woman, now facing at least 12 counts of ID theft, who says she did it all “to buy groceries.”

The 27-year-old woman was pulled over by police, who searched her car and discovered a printer/scanner, laminating machine, a metal case holding several licenses with her photo but with different names and an accordion folder containing other peoples’ checks along with hotel receipts in multiple names and credit card numbers.

There was also a “Wonder Woman binder” (which we take to mean a binder branded with the female superhero’s likeness and not a new, special type of binder that is invisible and can deflect bullets). In the binder were the names and ID info for people other than the suspect.

“There are hundreds of additional victims in this case,” said the prosecutor in bringing charges against the suspect. “The defendant possessed hundreds of stolen hotel receipts bearing victims’ names and credit card numbers.”

The police contacted one man whose check for $40,000 was found in the suspect’s folder. He said he’d written the check to a contractor and that the contractor’s mailbox had been broken into.

In court documents, a police officer stated about the suspect’s motives:

She wrote she did it because she needed money, so she had a friend show her how to use her computer to make ‘ID’ and checks … she could attempt to cash to make money or at least buy groceries to be able to feed herself

The suspect is currently being held on $65,000 bail.

Police: Woman with hundreds of IDs said she needed them to ‘buy groceries’ [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

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