Police investigate fraud and make shoplifting arrest: Newtown Township

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA – Newtown Township Police reported the following incidents and arrests between August 18 and 22:

18.August

• Police were called to a single-vehicle traffic accident at the intersection of Swamp Road and Mega Way around 8 p.m. As a result of the investigation, the driver was arrested on a warrant out of Trenton, NJ and was processed, charged and transferred without incident.

19 August

• At approximately 1 p.m., police were dispatched to a Wrightstown Township residence for a report of fraud. The resident stated that checks had been stolen from her mailbox, altered and cashed. The bank notified the resident of the fraud and compensated her for the loss.
• An employee of a local business in Newtown called headquarters around 3:30 p.m. to report a scam. The employee explained that she had recently started work and received an email from someone claiming to be their CEO. She was instructed to purchase several Apple gift cards with cash and send them the codes. The total value of the damage was $900.

20.08.

• At approximately 3:15 p.m., police were dispatched to the TD Bank on West Road for a report of a fraud in progress. As a result of the investigation, a man was arrested without incident as a fugitive law enforcement officer with warrants out of Texas, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, North Carolina and Michigan.
• A Newtown Township resident contacted headquarters to report a scam. She explained that someone claiming to be from Amazon contacted her and said someone had opened multiple bank accounts in her name. So that they could investigate the matter, they asked the resident to withdraw $20,000 from her bank account and transfer it to a Bitcoin ATM. Fortunately, the Bitcoin ATM did not process the transaction and the resident realized it was a scam.

21 August

• At approximately 10:45 a.m., police were called to Lululemon for a shoplifting incident. It was reported that three men and one woman had taken several items from the store without paying and fled in a gray Hyundai. Police searched the area for the vehicle and found that it had been reported stolen in Philadelphia that morning. The vehicle was eventually found unoccupied in Middletown Township. As a result of the investigation, the four individuals (three juveniles and one adult) were located on foot near George School and taken into custody without incident.
• Just before 8:30 p.m., police were dispatched to McCaffrey's Market on a report of an attempted shoplifting. Two juveniles attempted to steal two 12-packs of Twisted Tea from the store, but were stopped by the store manager. Police later identified the juveniles and spoke with their parents.

22.08.

• At approximately 2:35 p.m., a Wrightstown Township business owner called dispatch to report check fraud. The investigation is currently ongoing.