Women Used Drunk Man's Stolen Credit Cards In Deerfield: Reports

DEERFIELD, IL — A pair of Milwaukee women allegedly stole credit cards from a visiting Michigan man after a night of drinking and used them to buy hundreds of dollars worth of prepaid debit cards at the Deerfield Walgreens. One of the women pleaded guilty and awaits extradition to face heroin-dealing charges in Wisconsin. A warrant has been issued for the other after she failed to appear in court, according to police reports and court records.

Junise K. Thompkins, 25, of the 2700 block of North 54th Street in Milwaukee, and Beonca D. Smith, 29, of the 2200 block of West Middlemass Street were arrested as they left the store at Deerfield Square around 5:30 a.m. on June 7.

Three days earlier, one of the store's clerks had reported two women matching their description had been coming into the store around 5 a.m. recently to buy Visa gift cards with what the clerk believed to be stolen credit cards, according to police. The clerk, a 48-year-old Long Grove woman, told cops she became suspicious when the women would use multiple credit cards after one of them had been declined.

On the morning of June 7, as Thompkins and Smith walked over to the register to buy gift cards, the clerk called 911. Police from Deerfield, Bannockburn and Riverwoods arrived as the women were in a blue Nissan Altima with Wisconsin plates in front of the store, according to police reports.

Dispatchers reported Chicago police had issued a felony vehicle hold on the vehicle for possible involvement in an armed robbery. Officers ordered the women out of the car with their guns drawn in the parking lot of the 780 Waukegan Road location, and police said the pair was taken into custody without incident.

An investigation revealed that the two Milwaukee women had been out drinking in Chicago with a 52-year-old St. Joseph, Michigan man and his 34-year-old co-worker. The two men became "heavily intoxicated" and started hanging out with two women identified as Thompkins and Smith at a River North bar, according to police.

The man invited the women back to his hotel room in the 600 block of State Street, he told police. He did not recall that any sexual activity took place, but he said his credit cards and iPhone had been taken as the women left the room sometime before 5 a.m. Police reports indicate he provided police with a description of the two women, specifically noting Thompkins' pink wig.

Smith told police the two women, who said they knew each other through mutual friends and family members, visit Chicago often. On the night of June 6, she said Thompkins picked her up in Milwaukee and they drove to Chicago to visit friends and go out to bars. She said they met the two men sometime after midnight.

They were getting along well, she told police, and decided to go to their hotel room, where they spent about 20 minutes before leaving. Smith denied stealing anything from them, police said.

After leaving the hotel room, they decided to drive back to Wisconsin, Smith told police. While on the way, Smith said she needed to use a bathroom so they stopped at the Deerfield Walgreens. Thompkins handed her what she described as "his card," but she did not think it was unusual and did not know whose card it was, according to police reports. When her own card was declined, she said she used the card Thompkins had given her to buy a $400 gift card and some Benadryl.

Thompkins told police she had been talking to the Michigan man via the Grindr dating app since December 2017. She said she had met with him numerous times before. He pays for her rent, she said.

According to police, Thompkins explained that the man had planned to leave with her but his friend talked him out of it. He had left his cell phone, credit cards and driver's license in the car, but told her that it was OK for her to keep them.

Thompkins said the man asked her to drive to Walgreens and to buy condoms with his credit card. She had been signing his credit card receipts all night, she told police, so she did not believe there was anything wrong with using his credit card. She said they left the hotel and tried to head back to the bar because they had forgotten something. They then tried to go to the Walmart on Touhy Avenue, but Thompkins told police she forgot and they drove right by it.

Smith then used GPS to navigate to the nearest Walgreens, which happened to be in Deerfield, Thompkins said. She said she gave one Smith of the man's cards when they arrived, telling police she thought it was "fine" because the Michigan man gave her permission to use his card and had been paying her rent.

Police recovered the man's cell phone, driver's license and seven of his credit cards, as well as receipts for nearly $900 from the Deerfield Walgreens, gift cards, detergent and baby wipes in the Nissan, according to police reports.

The Michigan man told police no one had permission to take his stuff or use his credit cards.

Thompkins also reportedly had a Wisconsin identification card with her name and someone else's photograph, as well as a flowered purse and a black jacket. The purse and the jacket had been seen in a video related to an armed robbery investigation by Chicago police, according to police reports. They were turned over to Chicago cops, who interviewed the two women after Deerfield police were done.

Smith had a debit card with someone else's name on it, according to police, but she said it belonged to her mother and she was allowed to have it. Cops were unable to confirm the account.

The women were taken to bond court around 8:45 a.m., police said. Lake County Associate Judge George Strickland set Smith's bail at $1,000,000 for charges of identity theft and fugitive from justice in connection with a Wisconsin charge. Thompkins bail was set at $20,000. She later posted bond and was released.

Each woman also had an active arrest warrant. Thompkins was wanted in connection with a 2013 Bedford Park prostitution case. Smith was wanted by Milwaukee County in connection with a 2017 case of heroin delivery. Two Milwaukee men, Larry P. Porter, Jr., 19, of the 2700 block of North 54th Street and Justin D. Cunningham, 21, of the 5800 block of West Helena Street, await trial later this year in connection with incidents that took place in July and August last year, which are cross-referenced in court records.

Thompkins was charged with two felony counts of identity theft – one for stealing between $300 and $2,000 and one for knowingly using a stolen ID, according to police and court records. She failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued on June 25.

Smith pleaded guilty on July 2 to a modified count of attempted forgery. She was sentenced to two years probation, and 48 days in county jail. She awaits extradition to Wisconsin to face the heroin-related charge, according to court records.