Woman Faces Theft, Credit Card Fraud Charges

A Concord woman is facing a slew of charges after being tracked down by police allegedly using another person’s credit card to purchase items around the city.

Theresa M. Sargent, 33, of Concord, was arrested at 9:20 p.m. on Nov. 30, on four counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, two counts of attempt to commit credit card fraud, two felony counts of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, a felony count of receiving stolen property, and a warrant.

According to an arrest report and court records, an officer spoke with a local woman on Oct. 8, about allegations that someone was using her TD Bank Visa debit card around the city. The account was a joint account between the woman and her daughter but the daughter didn’t use the card and no one else had authorization to use the card.

The last transaction the woman made was on Oct. 6, at a Walmart in Amherst, and the next day, she realized the card was missing when she went to purchase a cup of coffee. Later on during the day, she checked her account online and saw that a number of transactions were made with the card around Concord. The transactions ran from between 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, at Exxon Mobil, Dunkin’ Donuts, Hess, and Walmart. The charges totaled about $648.

Two other purchases that were declined by the card valued at $420 at Walmart in Concord were attempted at around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 7.

Investigating the purchases

The day after the victim filed the report, the officer began investigating the case, speaking with stole clerks about the purchases.

The officer went to Walmart on Loudon Road first, spoke to the loss prevention employee there, and eyed security video of the first purchase, about $338, which was made by a white woman, later identified as Sargent. She was accompanied by a young white man and a young white woman. Other security cameras showed that the three arrived in a white Dodge Caliber and the loss prevention employee recognized the young woman who was with Sargent as Haley Lynn Gadwah, from previous incidents at the store.

The officer checked Gadwah’s records and matched her to the Dodge Caliber, a traffic incident in January, and the previous theft incident and arrest at Walmart from July.

The officer then visited Dunkin’ Donuts and looked at security footage. The person was in a Toyota Corolla but, the officer wrote, “The driver of the car was not visible in the video.”

The officer went back to Walmart on Oct. 13, and eyed video footage of the second Walmart purchase and the two attempted purchases that were rejected.

The employee pulled up the video and showed Sargent allegedly purchasing a $200 Walmart gift card with the victim’s bankcard at around 4:30 p.m. Seven hours later, Sargent allegedly attempted to purchase $260 worth of gift cards and phone cards and the stolen card declined the purchase. A few minutes later, she allegedly attempted to purchase $160 worth of cards and it declined again.

“When the suspect returned to Walmart on the afternoon and evening of 10-7-13 she arrived and left as a passenger in a four door, tan, Toyota, Corolla,” the officer alleged.

A check of the Corolla again yielded the name of Gadwah, including a traffic stop in the same car in August 2012.

The officer, on Oct. 18, and Oct. 25, visited the gas stations and obtained video and information from the store employees and later, while eyeing video footage at police headquarters.

More footage found

On Oct. 27, the officer spoke to the Walmart loss prevention employee again who had checked other footage and realized that Gadwah and Sargent were at the store on Oct. 1, and Oct. 8, and had allegedly “done fraudulent returns of merchandise,” the employee stated.

The officer eyed video footage from Oct. 1, and saw the women walking around the store and allegedly saw Sargent select an Apple USB adapter and put it in her shopping cart. Later, it disappeared. The two bought some sodas and then left the store. A few minutes later, Gadwah walked back into the store and allegedly returned the device for a $39.99 gift card.

The officer looked at the footage from Oct. 8, and described viewing a similar process – the women split up in the store and one picked up an Apple USB adapter and allegedly left the store with it. Later, Gadwah allegedly came back to the store with a bag of items, including the device, and received a gift card for about $88.

The loss prevention employee alleged that the items in the bag, other than the device, “were the same items that were purchased by (Sargent) with (the victim’s) stolen credit card on 10-7-13,” the report stated. 

More information

On Nov. 6, the officer went to speak with Felicia Sweatt at her apartment, according to court documents. Sweatt was arrested on Oct. 24, allegedly driving Gadwah’s car while her license was suspended. Gadwah was a passenger in the car during the stop, according to the officer. Sweatt said she wasn’t involved in the thefts and was no longer speaking to Gadwah, according to the report.

The officer went back and viewed footage and alleged that Sweatt had not told him the truth and she was with Sargent and Gadwah.

The officer returned to Sweatt’s home and showed her a picture from the security camera footage with the other two, and she allegedly admitted to being with the others.

Sweatt allegedly gave the officer information about Sargent, including her aliases, and the officer later confirmed that Sargent was allegedly the woman making the fraudulent purchases from booking photos on file.

Sargent, according to he officer, was convicted of theft by unauthorized taking, a felony, on Oct. 17, 2012, and theft by deception, a felony, on Jan. 6, 2009, both in Merrimack County Superior Court, according to a court affidavit.

A warrant arrest was issued for Sargent on Nov. 18. Gadwah was arrested on Nov. 18, in Manchester. Sargent was arrested on Nov. 30, and held without bail. Gadwah was arraigned on Dec. 23. 

Editor’s note: The following story was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and Concord District Court. It does not indicate a conviction.