Collin County Credit Card Thefts Lead To A Three-Month Shopping Spree
MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - Stacey Thomas of McKinney is the first to admit, she made a mistake. "My initial reaction was, uh-oh."
Thomas left her purse in her SUV. "They just popped out the lock in my car. I didn't even notice," she said.
The thieves left Stacey's purse, but were sure to snag her wallet with all of her credit cards. "They went to three major retailers and ran up almost $10,000 worth of charges within about 35 minutes," recalled Thomas.
McKinney, Frisco, Plano and Allen police are looking for a trio of thieves responsible for dozens of car break-ins over the past three months.
Detectives say two men and a woman are stealing credit cards and using them to buy tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise. "As soon as they get the credit cards out of the vehicle; a lot of times they're making purchases within the same parking lot," explained Deputy Chief J.H. Ellenburg of the McKinney Police Department.
Surveillance video has captured the suspects at several locations. Police say they've racked up charges at Stonebriar Mall, Target and Best Buy, just to name a few.
Police nearly caught the thieves a week ago at a Best Buy store in Allen. A fraud alert was issued after they charged $10,000 on stolen credit cards.
Best Buy surveillance video shows the responding officer walking in just as one of the suspects is calmly walking out.
A second suspect waited for the officer to pass by, before he too left the store.
Detectives say the thieves are in their 20s and are fashionably dressed, which may explain why many of the store clerks have failed to check their IDs.
