Arnold Police recently arrested a 27-year-old St. Clair woman on outstanding warrants and allegedly found checks and tax information that belonged to other people in a pickup she was driving. Investigators believe she may have been stealing mail in Jefferson County and using the information to forge checks and cash them, so the case has been turned over to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Arnold Police Cpl. Brett Ackermann said.
Officers arrested the woman at about 7 p.m. May 11 after they spotted a 1995 Ford Ranger that had been spray-painted black outside Home Depot, 3865 Vogel Road. Officers checked the license plate on the pickup and discovered the woman was wanted on numerous warrants, the report said.
She was wanted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office stemming from five charges for unlawful use of a weapon, as well for drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She also was wanted by the Crystal City Police Department for stealing and by the Washington Police Department for shoplifting, according to the report.
The officers arrested the woman after she came out of Home Depot. An officer searched her and allegedly found her with two bags of a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine, Arnold Police reported.
The officer also reportedly found a Home Depot credit card with someone else’s name on it. The woman allegedly couldn’t tell police why she had someone else’s credit cards, the report said.
A man who was with the woman allegedly told police there was marijuana in the pickup, and the woman said it was her marijuana. When officers searched the Ranger, they reportedly found the marijuana, along with checks, tax return documents and W2 forms made out to other people. Police also allegedly found 106 blank checks in the pickup, according to the report.
Ackermann said investigators believe the woman may have been using the blank checks to transfer information from the stolen checks and then cash them in her name. Police also suspect she may have used the tax documents to steal other people’s identities.
He said federal charges may be sought against the woman after the U.S. Postal Inspection Service completes its investigation. The woman was taken to the Jefferson County Jail to be held on the outstanding warrants, Ackermann said.