Woman Used Stolen Credit Card At Local Stores, Cops Say

A resident of Middletown Township’s Levittown section has been accused of making charges to a credit card that wasn’t theirs, according to court papers filed recently.

A Tullytown Borough police officer was summoned to the Walmart in the Levittown Town Center earlier this month for a report a stolen credit card was being used. No one was taken into custody at the time, but an investigation was launched, police said.

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The officer wrote in a criminal complaint that he learned the Visa credit card was reported stolen by a woman who said her wallet was taken while shopping in the Giant Food Store in Falls Township’s Fairless Hills section in early December.

The woman whose wallet was stolen reported that she learned shortly after leaving the food store that charges she didn’t make started appearing on her account. The unauthorized charges were from the Rite Aid in Bristol Township and the Tullytown Borough Walmart, police said.

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The Giant Food Store’s cameras weren’t working at the time of the wallet theft, but a store manager provided a photo of a woman who allegedly was involved in a similar incident at the store. An off-duty police officer witnessed the incident and took the photo, police said.

Walmart ended up providing images of the woman who allegedly used the stolen credit card at their business. The picture appeared to match the woman from the image provided by the Giant Food Store manager, police said.

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During the Walmart incident, the woman purchased two $100 gift cards, one poinsettia, and one pack of Mentos, police said.

Police said the officer went to the Rite Aid in the 6900 block of New Falls Road and obtained security footage. The woman who used the stolen credit card appeared to the match the images from the previous Falls Township and Tullytown Borough incidents.

At the Rite Aid, the woman allegedly attempted to purchase a $100 Visa gift card and two birthday cards, but the transactions were voided for an unknown reason, police said.

In the criminal complaint filed by Tullytown Borough police, it was revealed facial recognition technology was used to identify the woman accused of using the stolen card. She was identified as Michelle McKenzie, 60. The facial recognition program matched with New Jersey driver license records.

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Shortly before Christmas, Tullytown Borough police received a call from Walmart that McKenzie was in the store shopping again. Two officers went to the store and spotted the 60-year-old woman, police said.

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McKenzie saw the officers and approached them, making a comment about how it was good to see them in the store because she has previously been pickpocketed there, police said.

At that time, the officers noted she was wearing the same coat and hat as the suspect in the security camera images from the other stores, police said.

McKenzie traveled to Walmart in a vehicle while not being properly licensed, police said.

McKenzie was charged with access device issued to another, attempted access device issued to another, receiving stolen property, possessing an access device that is knowingly counterfeit/altered, attempted possessing an access device that is knowingly counterfeit/altered, and driving without a license. McKenzie was being held as of Thursday in the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $100,000 after being preliminarily arraigned by on-call District Judge Jan Vislosky last Friday.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.

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