Manchester Man Caught Up in Theft Schemes

A local man was arrested recently on numerous charges from a number of different communities in New Hampshire, including Concord.

James D. Moore, 33, of Mitchell Street in Manchester, was arrested at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 7, and at 1:20 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2015, and charged with theft by deception from Dec. 4, 2014, at Carlson’s Motor Sales on Manchester Street; two counts of theft by deception from an incident on Jan. 29, 2015, at the Pure Indulgence Day Spa on South Main Street; a warrant out of Rockingham County for two counts of theft by deception; and warrants from the Bow Police Department for three counts of criminal liability for the conduct of another, three counts of criminal liability for the conduct of another-theft by deception, and issuing bad checks.

In the day spa case, according to a court affidavit issued on Jan. 30, an officer was sent to business for a possible fraud case.

The officer spoke to the owner and another employee who reportedly became suspicious about a man who came in the day before and purchase two spa packages using Bank of America checks. The owner stated that she would later learn that the account had no funds in it to cover the purchases.

A man, reportedly identifying himself as “James Moore,” entered the spa around 11:15 a.m. and wanted to purchase a package for his fiancée named Amanda and chose the most expensive package, valued at $335. Moore added a 10 percent tip to the purchase, wrote a check, and then left with the spa with a gift card.

About five minutes later, he came back into the spa and said he wanted to purchase another package for his mother, and gave the owner one name but then corrected himself and requested that they make it out to another name, “but that she did not like her real name,” according to the report.

Moore added 10 percent again and purchased the spa package with another check that was two numbers higher than the first check.

The fact the checks were not in sequence inside of five minutes made her suspicious.

Later in the day, a woman named “Amanda Carey” came in and attempted to schedule an appointment to use a spa package the next day. When the spa employee checked the number of the gift card, it was the one that Moore had purchased for his mother earlier in the day.

“(The employee) said this was odd to her because it was unusual for someone to try and schedule an appointment using a gift card prior to the check having been cashed,” the report stated.

The different names were also a concern so she called the bank and found out that the checks were not good because the account was closed. The owner and employee began sleuthing around on Google and social media sites and found the person who was in the spa with the name “Derek Moore” on Facebook and called police.

The reporting officer later learned that a detective was also looking into James Moore for bad checks, amounting to $20,000 to $30,000, at car dealerships around the state.

Concord Police advised Manchester Police of the investigation into Moore and found out that he was recently arrested on Jan. 23, by police and questioned about bad checks.

Moore was also arrested by the Raymond Police Department on Jan. 6, allegedly gave a fake name of “Phillip Hallinan” and reportedly admitted to police that he was involved in stealing tools from Ace Hardware and using a check or checks to pay for the items.

A Verizon Wireless store in Raymond also alleged that the couple attempted to steal a Samsung Galaxy Tablet from the store. They reported came in to purchase three iPads from the store and the clerk assisting them soon realized there was a tablet missing from her workstation. The clerk approached Carey, who reportedly appeared to be hiding something, and she allegedly handed the tablet back to the clerk. She allegedly stated that she intended to show her son, who was waiting in their vehicle, the item. The pair was ordered to leave the store and not come back.

Moore was later arrested by Raymond Police for hindering apprehension and processed on two Tilton Police Department warrants. Carey was arrested by Raymond Police for disobeying an officer and willful concealment, according to the court report.

The affidavit against Moore was filed on Feb. 9, and then Moore was picked up on Feb. 13.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.