With the assistance of store employees and the Calaveras County Sheriff's Department, the Angels Camp PD arrested two suspects that were involved in the use of fraudulent access cards used to purchase thousands of dollars in merchandise.
On 02/02/18, at approximately 11 AM, an officer was dispatched to Calaveras Lumber on a report of two subjects that had just made purchases for approximately $6,000.00, utilizing suspected fraudulent access cards. The store employee provided a vehicle description and a partial license plate number, which the officer was able to provide to allied law enforcement agencies.
A Calaveras County Sheriff's Deputy located the involved vehicle in Valley Springs and made an enforcement stop for unrelated traffic violation(s) near the Mar-Val Shopping Center. Upon contacting the occupants the deputy saw that the property obtained from Calaveras Lumber was still in the vehicle, which consisted of several "YETI" brand ice chests, "STIHL" brand chain saws, and various other items. The subjects in the vehicle were detained while the investigation continued. Two of the suspects in the vehicle were arrested by the sheriff's department, one for a parole violation warrant, and one for charges related to a firearm that was located in the vehicle.
The Angels Camp PD officer was able to review store video surveillance footage and saw that two of the occupants detained made separate purchases, one for $2,713.15 and one for $2,909.46. The clerk became suspicious when the purchases required that the access card numbers for both purchases be manually entered, due to the fact that the magnetic stripe on the back would not scan.
Screenshots of the suspects making purchases at Calaveras Lumber were transmitted to the deputies on the traffic stop, and deputies assisted with securing and inventorying the stolen property from the suspect vehicle. An Angels Camp PD employee responded to the scene of the traffic stop to retreive the stolen property.
During the investigation it was discovered that these same subjects went to the Sonora Lumber store in Tuolumne County on 01/31/18, and made purchases there in excess of $2,000.00 using suspected fraudulent access cards. That information has been relayed to Tuolumne County law enforcement.
Jennell C. Bartholomew, a 27 year old Antelope, CA resident, was interviewed at the Calaveras County Jail by the investigating officer from Angels Camp PD, and ultimately admitted her involvement in the crimes. She advised that she and her companions drove to the area specifically to use the fraudulent access cards to make purchases and then sell the items for a profit. At the completion of the interview additional charges were added to her booking sheet related to commercial burglary and forging, acquiring, and using fraudulent access cards.
One of her companions, Davon M. Martinez, a 24 year old Sacramento resident, invoked his rights and refused to speak to the investigating officer about the events, denying any involvement. Based on the store video surveillance footage and the statement obtained from Bartholomew, the same additional charges were also added to his booking sheet.
The stolen property and the forged access cards were secured as evidence at the Angels Camp PD, and once the stolen property was compared to the sales receipts and photographed, it was released back to Calaveras Lumber.
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