A Stock Island woman was arrested Tuesday for stealing another woman’s purse and using the credit cards at several local businesses.
21 year old Erica Palomino and the victim both work at the Key West International Airport for separate airlines. On Sunday, the victim left her purse on top of employee lockers at the airport. When she discovered the purse was gone later in the day, she began to cancel her credit cards and discovered someone had used them at several locations, including Banana Republic, Express and the Chevron Station on Stock Island.
Detective Dave Chavka was assigned to investigate. They responded to the locations where the cards were used. They obtained video from Banana Republic and the Chevron station. Both videos showed Palomino using the stolen credit cards. Airport Sgt. David Smith and Deputy Sonya Morgan recognized and identified her as someone who also works at the airport.
Detectives confronted Palomino and she admitted to stealing the purse and using the cards. She was arrested Tuesday and charged with grand theft, fraud - illegal use of credit cards and three counts of fraud - using the identification of another person. She was booked into jail.