A 19-year-old Lemon Grove man was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 27 after trying to buy two iPhones at a Santa Monica Apple store using a fraudulent Visa card and a fake ID.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to store at 1415 Third Street Promenade at 4:45 pm on this day in order to investigate a fraud case.
The officers were informed that the Apple loss prevention agent was detaining a suspect at the store.
Upon arrival at the Apple store, the officers spoke with the loss prevention agent who told them that a customer had attempted to purchase a pair of 16 Gigabyte Apple iPhone 5-Ss (valued at $649 each) and that this customer had used a Visa card and had also produced a California Drivers’ License as identification.
The loss prevention agent had examined these documents and determined that they were counterfeit.
The customer had then decided to pay for the iPhones with cash and had then left the store.
It was after the suspect had exited the store that the loss prevention agents pounced on and detained the man.
The officers searched the suspect and found that he possessed a fake California Drivers’ License and two forged credit cards.
This man was arrested and charged with possession of a forged California Drivers’ License, forging a seal of the State, forging a credit card, and intent to defraud.
Bail was set at $500.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of The Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
