Three Bloomington residents were arrested Tuesday morning for using stolen checks to purchase $1,941.52 in merchandise from Menards, Walmart and Lowe’s, Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo said.
A 59-year-old Bloomfield, Indiana, resident told police someone was using checks connected to her bank account to make purchases in Bloomington she hadn’t approved that overdrafted her account, Pedigo said.
On June 24, someone used the woman’s checks to buy $486.99 worth of items from Menards, $463.71 in items from Lowe’s and $990.82 in items from Walmart in purchases at different times of the day.
Using the time of the transaction from the woman’s account, video surveillance from the Menards located at 1285 Liberty Drive showed two female suspects loading a shopping cart with items and paying for them with a check before leaving in a black Chevy Avalanche truck.
Video surveillance from the first Walmart transaction at 3:59 a.m. showed a man and one of the women from the Menards video making a purchase. Video of the second Walmart transaction at 7:49 p.m. showed the same two women from the Menards video purchase items. In both of those transactions, the suspects left in a black Chevy Avalanche truck.
Pedigo did not say if police obtained video footage for the purchase at Lowe's.
Police showed the 59-year-old woman photos of the suspects pulled from the surveillance footage, but she said she didn’t recognize any of them.
Police responded to an 11:18 a.m. call Tuesday to the Walmart located at 220 E. Third St. from an employee, who said the two women and man had returned to the store.
Offices went to the Walmart location and arrested 42-year-old Tosha Hall, 40-year-old Anthony Hardy and 41-year-old Jacqueline Hardy.
Jacqueline, who is Anthony’s sister, initially gave officers a different name and presented an ID card with someone else’s information. Hall told police Jacqueline was using a false name.
Jacqueline told police she used a different name because she had previous warrants out for her arrest, Pedigo said.
Jacqueline said she and Anthony were in the process of renovating their home, which Hall does not live in, when she found the checks and decided to start using them.
The 59-year-old woman previously lived in the same home but moved out and left some items behind. When she returned to gather some items, including a small safe, she found the safe pried open and a checkbook missing from inside.
Both Jacqueline and Anthony are users of methamphetamine and told police they and Hall swapped items they purchased for meth in addition to buying things for the house.
Hall and Anthony were charged with theft. Jacqueline was charged with theft, identity deception and forgery.
