Three Maryland residents face a total of 65 charges after Fairfax County police arrested them Nov. 14 when they allegedly tried to use a stolen credit card to purchase high-end smartphones in Tysons Corner Center.
Detectives with the police department’s Tysons Urban Team (TUT) were alerted at 3:49 p.m. that day about a possible fraud unfolding at the mall’s Apple store.
TUT detectives spoke with the store’s loss-prevention personnel and learned that three suspects allegedly were attempting to purchase several iPhone 15s, worth a total of $5,578, using a stolen credit card. Detectives quickly arrived to take the suspects into custody before they could leave the store.
As police were detaining the suspects, a victim called to report her credit cards had been stolen from her car and were being used by the suspects, authorities said.
According to TUT detectives, the suspects stole the credit card from the victim’s vehicle earlier that day. Through their investigation, detectives determined the suspects allegedly had entered or broken into several vehicles over the last few months in the parking lots of Scotts Run Nature Preserve and Difficult Run Park before committing fraudulent transactions in the Tysons area.
Authorities are holding all of the suspects without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
Authorities charged Jose Angel Santos, 20, of Hyattsville, Md., with 10 counts of credit-card theft, five counts of credit-card fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit credit-card fraud, two counts of stolen property with intent to sell, two counts of wearing a mask to conceal identity, two counts of destruction of property, receiving stolen goods, identity theft, possession of burglarious tools, obstruction of justice, vehicle trespass and petit larceny.
Juan Jose Ruiz Leiva, 21, of Riverdale, Md., faces eight counts of credit-card theft, four counts of credit-card fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit credit-card fraud, two counts of stolen property with intent to sell, two counts of destruction of property, possession of burglarious tools, identity theft, petty larceny and vehicle trespass.
Authorities charged Genesis Flores Caceres, 18, of Hyattsville, Md., with five counts of credit-card theft, conspiracy to commit credit-card fraud, possession of burglarious tools, two counts of credit-card fraud, identity fraud, stolen property with intent to sell, destruction of property and vehicle trespass.
