HANCOCK COUNTY — An Ohio woman pulled over for a traffic violation on Interstate 70 ended up arrested on suspicion of fraud after a state trooper became suspicious of thousands of dollars of merchandise in her vehicle.
Jamie S. McClure, 35, Dayton, Ohio, was already wanted on a warrant there for theft. She was arrested and charged Monday, Jan. 27, with a Level 6 felony count of fraud after she tried to give the trooper a fake ID.
She also had thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in her car that appeared to have been purchased with fake credit applications and cards, a probable cause affidavit shows.
The trooper stopped McClure, who was heading eastbound on I-70 at the Mt. Comfort exit, shortly before midnight. Her vehicle, a Toyota Highlander with New York plates, was traveling at a much slower speed than other traffic, and the driver also had failed to signal for a proper lane change.
Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer noted there were multiple new Milwaukee-brand wireless tool combo sets on the front passenger seat and floor board.
The woman was unable to provide proper identification and appeared to be nervous, the affidavit said.
The officer asked her to write her name and date of birth on a piece of paper. When she did, he noticed she provided more information than he had sought and that some of it was rewritten, the affidavit said. She also gave a different age than the one she had written down.
The woman finally gave the officer her real name, which led to the discovery of the Ohio warrant.
When asked for the receipts for the merchandise, McClure produced one that had a different name on the bottom, the affidavit said. One receipt had a total of $6,290.78, and a second receipt showed a purchase of $1,312.89. The store listed on the receipt was later determined to be the Home Depot off Southport Road in Indianapolis.
A further search revealed several thousand dollars’ worth of additional merchandise, including multiple Nest thermostats, smoke detectors, Ring doorbells, floodlights, a weed trimmer, a vacuum cleaner and more.
Officials also found a torn up piece of paper that appeared to be a credit application from Home Depot with the same name listed on the bottom of the Home Depot receipts. In the center console an officer located an Ohio ID card belonging to McClure.
Officers also found a credit card with the same name as on the receipts. McClure told police she was holding them for a friend, the affidavit said.
McClure’s charge of fraud is set to be heard in Hancock County Superior Court 2 in front of Judge Dan Marshall. A probable cause affidavit was filed Wednesday, Jan. 29. She had yet to make her initial appearance by press time.
