Men Busted for Debit Card Fraud at Wal-Mart: Wallingford Police

Wallingford Police arrested two Michigan men on debit card fraud charges after they attempted to flee from the Wal-Mart on North Colony Road on Tuesday.

Police were alerted by Wal-Mart of two suspects who were in the process of using fraudulent debit cards, Lt. Michael Colavolpe said in a press release.

The Detective Division responded and while attempting to detain the individuals, the suspects attempted to flee in a vehicle but were unsuccessful, according to Colavolpe.

The driver, identified as Tarmazz Scott, and passenger Ramar Trusty were arrested for interfering with an officer. Initial investigation showed that Trusty was in possession of three debit cards with stolen credit card numbers on them.

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Colavolpe said further investigation showed that Scott and Trusty had a total of 15 fraudulent debit cards with stolen credit card numbers embossed on them. Also, the fraudulent cards had fictitious names on them.

Scott and Trusty were only in Connecticut for less than three hours and made purchases at the Hartford, Manchester, and Wallingford Wal-Mart stores, according to Colavolpe.

They had 10 pre-paid debit/gift cards that were recently purchased in their possession, totaling approximately $5,000. The pre-paid debit/gift cards were purchased with the stolen credit card numbers.

Police learned that Scott and Trusty appeared to be planning to return to Michigan within 24 hours.

“Nation-wide, various groups of individuals are using stolen credit card numbers to purchase legitimate pre-paid debit/gift cards for large dollar amounts, prior to anyone realizing the credit card numbers are stolen,” Colavolpe said. “Apprehending these individuals is tough because they are using fictitious names and only staying in areas for short periods of time.”

Trusty has a lengthy criminal history in Colorado, Michigan, and Ohio. He was a wanted felon out of Colorado for forgery charges and was charged in Connecticut with being a fugitive from justice.

Colavolpe said the Colorado agency wished to extradite Trusty back to their state. He was detained on a $1 million bond for that charge.

Scott and Trusty were arrested on a total of 11 charges related to the forgery and theft/illegal use of the credit cards, along with the initial charge of interfering with an officer. Both were detained on a $50,000 bond and were scheduled to be arraigned at Meriden Superior Court on Nov. 12.

Photo 1: Tarmazz Scott, 22, of 202 Hazelwood Drive, Detroit, Michigan

Photo 2: Ramar Trusty, 30, of 13650 Winchester Street, Oak Park, Michigan

Wallingford Police Department photos