Three Michigan Men Arrested For Using Cloned Credit Cards
WARSAW — Three Michigan men were arrested June 13, after attempting to use cloned credit cards at a local big box chain store.
Diamante Mateo Warren, 20, 16195 Ashton Ave., Detroit, Mich., Antonyo Idisa-Julius Clark, 22, 16199 Oxley Road, Southfield, Mich. and Christopher Shaquille Jones, 22, 9381 Wildemere St., Detroit, Mich., were booked into the Kosciusko County Jail for corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony; a level 6 felony of fraud and a class A misdemeanor of theft.
Warsaw Police Officer, Corporal Gordon Allen, responded to a call from a local store’s loss prevention employee, stating three males were using credit cards issued in female’s names to make purchases. The employee informed Allen the men were about to leave the parking area. He gave Allen a description of the men and what type of vehicle they were in.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Allen observed the vehicle from the description and made an investigatory traffic stop while still in the parking lot. Allen observed that the car’s occupants matched the description from the loss prevention employee and were positively identified. The employee reported that four different credit cards were used by the three men.
Allen identified the driver was Clark, the front seat passenger was Jones and in the backseat was Warren. Warsaw K-9 officer Shively, with the assistance of his K-9 partner Mako, performed an exterior free air sniff of the vehicle.
Mako alerted to the presence of an odor of a narcotic coming from the front driver’s door seam. During the search of the vehicle for narcotics, Allen found two credit cards in a jacket that belonged to Warren. When the cards were read by an officer with a scanner they were found to be from other people and had been cloned.
Officers also found a credit card in the sunglasses headliner compartment that had the name Christopher Jones stamped on the front, but when read came back in a different person’s name.
Allen located a Visa gift card package with the card missing. Allen learned that six gift cards were purchased by the subjects during this incident.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and found a total of 11 credit cards. Officers found that five of the cards had been cloned with other people’s information and bank accounts. Six were the visa gift cards that had been purchased with the cloned cards.
Warren, Clark and Jones admitted to Warsaw Police Officer Paul Heaton using the cloned cards. The total amount purchased with the cloned cards was $667.14.
During the traffic stop conducted by Allen one subject, Warren, fled on foot, later to be found at a trailer in a mobile home park being held at gunpoint by the owner of the trailer.
Warren, Clark and Jones are being held on a $10,500 surety and cash bond.