30-year-old Laura Christina Dayton and 35-year-old Jeffrey Lynn Mays, Jr., both of 1st Avenue S.W. in Hickory, were arrested by Hickory Police at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday (July 5). Dayton was charged with one felony count of obtaining property by false pretense and four felony counts of identity theft. Mays faces two felony counts of larceny and one misdemeanor count of larceny.
They were arrested after a 35-year-old Claremont woman reported that someone had tried to open a credit line on June 26 at Ashley Home Furnishings using the victim’s personal information. The victim’s bank also notified her of fraudulent activity on her account. Previously, on June 20, the victim reported that her vehicle was broken into and her purse was stolen. The Catawba Co. Sheriff’s Office responded to that incident.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
The clerk at the furniture store told Police a white male and a white female had come in to open the credit line, but didn’t purchase anything. The victim told Officers that she suspected Jeffrey Mays might be the male suspect. She said her brother had previously been involved in similar criminal activity with Mays.
The clerk then identified Mays as the suspect in a photo line-up. Police also reviewed surveillance footage from Home Depot where someone purchased a pressure washer after activating a Home Depot credit card using the victim’s personal information. From that footage, Investigators were able to identify Mays and the female suspect, Laura Dayton.
Both were taken into custody without incident and placed in the Catawba Co. Detention Facility. Bond for Dayton was set at $53,000, secured, while Mays was given a $43,000 secured bond. First appearances in District Court were set for today (July 7) in Newton.
