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Zach Fowle
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 22, 2008 04:38 PM
A Phoenix woman tried for nearly a month to lead police to the woman she believed stole her identity.
She finally found her - by accident - when she parked next to the woman in a Walgreens parking lot.
"It was by the grace of God I found her," the victim, whose name is being withheld, said in a police press conference Friday afternoon.
After the victim was able to get the woman's license plate number, police arrested Alyssa Langman, 24, on suspicion of identity theft, theft and two outstanding felony warrants Friday.
Langman was on the Phoenix Police Department's Top 10 List for Identity Theft, meaning she had been identified by detectives as a serial offender.
According to a police report, the victim's purse was stolen from her car while she was dropping her child off at a West Valley day care center. She returned home later that day to find that she had been burglarized.
Along with savings bonds, jewelry, and other items of value, a bag of her makeup was missing.
"That's how I knew it was a woman that did it," the victim said.
Two days later, police said Langman created a bank account in the victim's name, cashed phony checks, and opened a line of credit for $10,000.
When the victim learned of the phony account, she immediately contacted the banks where the forged checks were cashed and signed affidavits, which granted police permission to obtain necessary evidence.
The victim worked with police officers in three different jurisdictions to bring Langman to justice. When an officer informed her that Langman had been arrested outside Phoenix for a related identity theft crime, the victim attended Langman's court appearance and was able to see Langman. Langman was later released, but the victim identified her after finding her in the Walgreens parking lot.
Langman told police she paid $300 for the victim's information, and intended to use it to finance her meth habit.
Phoenix Case Agent Detective Craig Walker, who was the lead detective on the case, said during the press conference that the number of identity theft cases in the Valley is in the hundreds and has been increasing over the past several years.
"We are completely overrun with identity theft cases," Walker said.
The victim's active involvement in the case was a key part of its successful conclusion, police said.
"It's amazing, and we are so impressed with the victim's work," Walker said. "We wouldn't have been able to solve this case without her."
Some of the things that you will need to do if it does happen to you.
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Call your bank and/or credit card company
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Contact the three major credit repositories
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Go through the helpful but expensive steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission in its 30-page consumer support publication
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Fill out and submit the affidavit form supplied by the FTC to dispute new, unauthorized accounts
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Spend on average $1,200 in out-of-pocket expenses and an average of 175 hours in your efforts to resolve the many problems caused by identity thieves
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What Is Identity Theft?
