Suspect arrested in theft of credit cards at Wal-Mart
May 5, 2008
The woman's touch was so light and fast she could have been a magician.
At least that's what Elaine Sabra, a former magician herself, thinks. The 69-year-old Boynton Beach resident said she didn't feel a thing when the woman slid her hand inside Sabra's purse and swiped three credit cards, a Duffy's gift card and a Wal-Mart gift card while Sabra was shopping at the Super Wal-Mart on Old Boynton Road in March.
"It never dawned on me it would have been picked," said Sabra, who discovered the cards were missing when she checked out. She just assumed she'd left them at home. "I used to be a magician. They should be magicians instead of criminals."
Not long after she left the Wal-Mart, Sabra got a call from her credit card's fraud prevention office. Someone had racked up nearly $3,000 in gift card purchases at Macy's, Best Buy and Target, Sabra said.
Sabra was one of at least five women, all over the age of 55, who had their credit cards and other personal items stolen by Rebecca Zolnay, 27; Tammy Evans-Demeritte, 39; and Mavis Camille Johnson, 41, according to Boynton Beach police.
Police arrested Zolnay on Sunday morning at a Greyhound bus station in West Palm Beach. She was returning from Texas where police say she'd fled after finding out they had filed charges against her. She now faces 40 felony charges including grand theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and forgery.
Evans-Demeritte and Johnson already were in jail on other charges. They also face charges in the credit card thefts.
Police said Evans-Demeritte and Johnson stole the credit cards from older women shopping at the Boynton Beach Super Wal-Mart, distracting them and then picking their purses. Then Zolnay used the cards to buy gift cards and merchandise at a number of stores.
News Source : http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ |
