Thieves Use Woman’s Credit Card As She Is Cancelling It, Police Find, Arrest Suspects

Two women were sitting and talking inside the Starbucks at 5940 Hwy. 6 in Missouri City around 6 p.m. yesterday when a man walked up, grabbed one woman’s wallet, car keys and cell phone, then took off running. The women chased him, and as they turned a corner, saw him get inside a vehicle that was waiting outside of Target.

The vehicle took off at a high rate of speed, and the victim called police on the other woman’s cell phone. As she was waiting for police, the victim called Amegy Bank to cancel her Visa credit card. While she was on the phone, the bank representative told her that her credit card was being used at the HEB grocery store about a mile away from Starbucks.

An officer, approaching the HEB, saw a car matching the victim’s description leave the parking lot, and pulled the driver over. According to reports, when the officer walked up to the car, he could smell marijuana, and saw the victim’s cell phone on the back seat.

The officer had all three occupants get out of the vehicle. After searching the vehicle and all three suspects, the officer ended up finding marijuana, 17 hydrocodone pills, the victim’s wallet, the victim’s cell phone, the victim’s credit card in one of the suspect’s sock, and more than $600 in Visa gift cards.

Surveillance video from HEB showed all three suspects purchasing the gift cards a short while before they were pulled over. The victim’s car keys and $100 cash were not found.

Police arrested 19-year-old Houston resident Jeremy Jefferson, 18-year-old Missouri City resident Grantlin Willis and 19-year-old Rian Bush, charging all three with Class A theft, possession of a controlled substance, a second degree felony, and credit card abuse, a state jail felony.

Police advise that victims of theft should not chase after the suspects, but should call police immediately.