Stolen Wallet Leads to $10,000 Spending Spree in About 75 Minutes

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Darien Police Headquarters
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When a woman got up to get her lunch at Panera Bread last Wednesday, her wallet and all the credit cards in it were stolen, and before she’d left the restaurant, the charges started coming in from two stores in Greenwich:

  • Shortly before 3 p.m.: A total of $3,340 was charged to her Visa card from the Saks Fifth Avenue store.
  • 3:05 p.m.: A total of $796 was charged to her Mastercard from the Apple Store.
  • 3:10 p.m.: Another $849 was charged at the same store to the same credit card.
  • 3:11 p.m.: A total of $796 was charged at the Apple Store, this time to a Visa card.
  • 3:30 p.m.: Back at Saks Fifth Avenue, $3,609 was charged to a Visa card.
  • 3:36 p.m.: An attempt was made to charge another $3,609 at Saks Fifth Avenue, this time to a BMW credit card, but the transaction was declined.
  • 4:12 p.m.: A total of $796 was charged to a debit card at the Apple Store.

Total haul: $10,186 charged in about an hour and 15 minutes. It would’ve been $13,795 if the BMW credit card had been accepted.)

The victim first realized that her wallet was missing sometime before 3 p.m., when she received a call from Chase Bank asking her about a transaction that had just been made on one of her cards.

The wallet itself, a black Michael Khors brand, is valued at $300. Also inside it and now stolen was a $40 gift card, and charge cards issued by Kohl’s and Macy’s.

The woman contacted police shortly after 7 p.m. Police officers began working with store security at Apple and were working with mangement at the Panera Bread restaurant in Darien to get surveillance video records. Darien police detectives have started an investigation.

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