Then go on $2,500 shopping spree
Two business owners in St. Charles Parish say that a pair of women worked in tandem to distract them while stealing credit cards from their purses. In one of those thefts, the women used the credit cards to go on a $2,500 shopping spree.
Chantell Fremen, of Tiger Town Gifts in Luling, said that the women entered the sports gift store on Sept. 1 and feigned interest in having a gift basket put together. Fremen is certain that the two women had seen her purse, which was sitting on a table in her office.
Her office door was open.
“One of the women distracted me by asking to look at items in the Saints section, which is on the other side of the store from my office,” she said. “The other woman went into my purse and removed my wallet.”
Though Fremen had cash and checks inside her wallet, she says the thief only took her four credit cards. Two of the cards were attached to her personal account, while the other two were for her business account.
When it came time to purchase the gift basket that Fremen had put together, the women tried to use a pre-paid credit card that didn’t have any money on it.
“She gave me this whole story and said that the card should have money on it and that she would run to the bank and come back,” Fremen said.
Two hours after the women had left the store, Fremen got a call from Capital One informing her that her cards had been used to make $2,500 worth of purchases.
“They used all four cards, which shows how greedy they are,” Fremen said. “Thank God Capital One called because they would have taken a lot more money.”
Fremen said the cards were used at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, which are both located in Luling.
“They used them to buy those pre-paid credit cards and spent $600 at each store,” Fremen said. “Even though they spent hundreds of dollars, neither store asked to see an ID.”
The thieves then went to Target and bought $1,200 worth of goods. They also bought gas for their car and used the stolen cards to eat at Popeyes, Fremen said.
On the same day, the women also went to It’s All About You Interiors in Boutte, according to co-owner Linda Baxa.
Baxa, who was alone in the two-story store, said that one of the women wanted to look at merchandise upstairs. Baxa went with her.
“When I got back downstairs, her friend was behind the counter,” Baxa said. “When they left, I saw that one of my credit cards was missing, but it had just expired so they weren’t able to use it.”
Baxa said that around $300 in merchandise was also missing from her store.
A week later, Baxa said one of the women returned to her store, but left before Baxa and another nearby store owner could confront her.
“We tried to get the license plate number but weren’t able to,” Baxa said.
Fremen said that surveillance footage from Walgreens captured images of the two women.
One of the women was described as a black female who is pregnant and had a piercing on her nose. She is about 5’1” tall and is in her early 30s. The other woman was described as a black female, who was 5’7” tall and in her late 30s to early 40s. She was wearing sunglasses and had her hair in a ponytail.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange said that investigators are following up on leads and that anyone with information on either theft is asked to contact Det. Jeremy Pitchford at (985)783-1135.
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