Weatherford man arrested for credit card charges

Image
Body

A man police believe is responsible for four counts of unauthorized use of credit card has been arrested.

Benjamin Willis Patterson Robinson Jr. faces the four counts after alleged actions earlier this year. Those charges were filed July 1. After he was arrested, the man appeared in front of Judge Donna Dirickson, where he was read the charges he faces and a bond of $1,000. That bond was paid, court records indicate.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim received a notice from her bank regarding someone trying to use her debit card in February. She told police a couple days later her debit card was stolen.

After the victim checked her wallet and noticed it was missing, she called her bank asked them to cancel the card and print out her most recent statement. The victim noticed three fraudulent charges on the printout, including one to Wal-Mart for $435.70. The victim also identified Patterson Robinson as the possible suspect. Patterson Robinson was working on the alarm system in the building where she works at the time the debit card went missing, court records indicate.

Weatherford Police Detective Joseph Cox looked at surveillance video from Wal-Mart from February 13. Cox found two persons present during the transaction that morning. One of the subjects was a woman wearing a gray coat, jeans and a beanie. The other subject was described as a man wearing a black ski mask on his head, a tan coat and jeans. The man also had a cross tattoo on his right hand, court records indicate.

Detective Cox watched the video and saw the two subjects proceed into the store and fill two shopping carts with a total of 49 items, including food items, toiletries and dog food. The subjects then allegedly proceeded to the checkout where the man scanned the items and bagged them, court records indicate.

Halfway through checking out, Detective Cox noticed the woman left the store. The man then paid for the items, totaling $435.70. The man then allegedly pushed the cart out of the store and laded them into a gold Chevrolet Impala, court records indicate.

After loading the vehicle, Detective Cox saw the man and woman allegedly reenter the store, select 23 items including clothing, electronics and makeup, then proceed to a self-checkout to pay. Like before, the man scans the items and the woman leaves the store, court records indicate.

However, for this transaction of $419.75, the card is declined. Detective Cox notices the man allegedly trying the transaction three times before leaving the store without the items, court records indicate.

In March, Detective Cox met with the victim. During that meeting, Detective Cox showed the victim the surveillance footage obtained from Wal-Mart. The victim identified Patterson Robinson and his wife, Kimberly Robinson, as the alleged subjects in the video, court records indicate.

The victim also notified Detective Cox of an additional one of the victim’s cards, which was allegedly taken from her business in early March. The victim told Detective Cox had physical access to the card while working in the building her business is located, however did not have permission to use the card or take it, court records indicate.

That card allegedly was used for two separate transactions the next day at Wal-Mart for $8.07 and $246.76 respectively, court records indicate.

The two additional charges stem from two purchases using an allegedly stolen debit card. The first purchase was for $7.99 from the Google Play store and for $1.99 from Google Play.

Kimberly Robinson has not been charged in Custer County.

If convicted, Patterson Robinson faces up to 30 days imprisonment and a fine up to $500 for each count.