Three Bronx residents were charged with identity theft and other charges following an alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain cell phones at Simply Wireless.
Police responded to the Queen Street store shortly before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2, following a complaint that a woman was trying to obtain cell phones with a possible fraudulent driver’s license.
Police were also informed that there was a vehicle parked on the side of the store that employees thought was involved in the incident. Patrol officers located a gray Acura, with New York registration, and found two men seated in the vehicle.
The males were identified as Jose Rainiel Rivera Hernandez, 21, and Juan Francisco Sanchez Ramos, 22, both of the Bronx. Police identified the female as Jazmin Toribio, 26, also of the Bronx.
According to police, Toribio had entered the Simply Wireless store and asked to add additional phones to an account. She provided a fraudulent driver’s license containing the name of an actual account holder.
When asked, Toribio was able to provide information the account holder would have known. Toribio’s behavior inside the store roused the suspicions of employees and store managers. Staff at the store had been previously alerted to a series of frauds of a similar nature.
Police questioned the three suspects about how they ended up in Southington and found inconsistencies in their stories. Police determined that the individual account holder had not authorized any activity on their account.
Following an investigation, police determined that the three suspects had come to Connecticut with the purpose of obtaining cell phones to add onto the accounts of unsuspecting Verizon customers.
Police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Dobratz said in a release that items of evidence were located to support that Toribio, Rivera Hernandez, and Sanchez Ramos, had conspired to fraudulently obtain high end cell phones. The investigation further revealed that Rivera Hernandez had provided Toribio with the fraudulent identification.
All three parties were taken into custody and transported to the Southington Police Department.
Toribio was charged with third degree identity theft and criminal attempt to commit fifth degree larceny. Bond was set at $20,000 with a September 15 court date.
Ramos was charged conspiracy to commit identity theft and conspiracy to commit fifth degree larceny. He was held on a $25,000 bond with a September 3 court date.
Hernandez was charged with trafficking in personal identifying information, conspiracy to commit identity theft and conspiracy to commit fifth degree larceny. He was held on a $25,000 bond with a September 3 court date.
