Tempe Police reported the following incidents Sunday:
A 24-year-old Mesa woman was arrested June 30 on the on the 700 block of North Santa Barbara Road on suspicion of theft, identity theft, credit card theft, and three counts of fugitive from justice, according to a police report.
The woman approached the victim at Tempe Market Place and grabbed the victim’s purse which was sitting on the table, police reported. The purse contained a debit card, a credit card and her identification card, police reported.
The woman ran to a vehicle which was waiting for her to get in to flee the area, according to the report.
As she was running, however, she dropped her cell phone providing officers and owner of the purse details about her identity and pictures of herself to help further the identification process, according to the report.
A witness saw the the woman taking the purse and fleeing from the scene and tried to write down the license plate number and noting that the plate had been removed, police reported.
The witness picked the woman out of a lineup, according to the report. The witness was not able to identify the driver of the car, according to the report.
Officers also identified her through the Facebook photos found on her phone, police reported.
Minutes after the theft the card was used at a local QuikTrip to fill up gas, according to the report. The camera at the station recorded her doing the transaction, her driver remaining in the car, police reported.
She then used the debit card and stolen identification to withdraw $50 in cash, police reported.
After contacted the woman admitted she had been high on meth and refused to identify the driver, according to the report. She also said they used the $50 to buy meth, smoke it and then go to the casino, police reported.
She told officers the driver was a female with short hair and would be honest about what she had done, but not identify the driver, according to the report.
The woman was transported to Tempe City Jail, where she was booked and held to see a judge, police reported.
Report compiled by Megan Janetsky.
Reach the reporter at megan.janetsky@asu.edu or follow @meganjanetsky on Twitter.
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