Police: I.D. theft ring broken up in Bucks
Four men have been arrested at a Bucks County motel and charged with running an identity theft ring stretching from Florida to Connecticut, Bensalem police said this morning.
Four men have been arrested at a Bucks County motel and charged with running an identity theft ring stretching from Florida to Connecticut, Bensalem police said this morning.
Following the arrest of the four Flordia men, police recovered licenses, checkbooks, social security cards and credit cards belonging to about 100 people, authorities said.
The victims included residents of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Georgia and Connecticut, and Bensalem police were working with various law enforcement agencies in an ongoing investigation.
The arrests came after Upper Merion police issued an alert advising that an organized identity theft crime ring that targeted vehicles was responsible for numerous thefts in the Philadelphia area in recent weeks.
Special Investigations Unit officers uncovered the ring while conducting surveillance at the Red Roof Inn on Lincoln Highway in Trevose, police said.
There they found undisclosed evidence of narcotics at a room and moved in to arrest four men when they returned to the room, police said.
Earl Johnson, 31, tried to flee, but officers caught him and found he was carrying pieces of identification that belonged to several females, including a $1,900 check.
Officers spoke to two of the victims and learned that their purses were stolen after thieves broke into their cars.
Police recovered the additional items from the men's car, including items belonging to a woman whose car was broken into at an LA Fitness parking lot in Fort Washington on Sunday.
Charged with theft, identity theft, possession of stolen property, and other offenses were Johnson; Armone Stanley, 30; Ronny Lodge, 22; and Javaris Williams, 23. Police said all four hailed from the Fort Lauderdale area.
Investigators asked anyone who might have been a victim of the alleged ring to contact their local police departments or the Bensalem Police Detective Division at 215-633-3719.
