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A man is behind bars after allegedly using a woman's debit card that had been stolen from her vehicle, the first time within minutes of her reporting it.
In September, a woman reported that her car had been broken into during the afternoon, and that her purse had been stolen from inside. Three days later, the woman reported that her debit card, which had been inside the purse, had recorded several additional transactions.
Police took the initial call at 4:54 p.m. on Sept. 10. At 4:56, the first transaction for $40.02 was recorded at 4:56 at the Sunoco on Eoff Street. Three minutes later, another transaction occurred, and then another at 5:09 p.m., and a fourth at 5:15 p.m. In total, $103.34 of apparently fraudulent charges were reported in the span of 21 minutes.
Video footage from the gas station allegedly shows Joshua Arocho, 38, with no address listed, making the transactions at those times. Arocho was identified by two Wheeling police officers.
Arocho was arrested and charged with four counts of unauthorized use of an access device. He remains jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond.
In an unrelated arrest, Paul Tedesco, 34 of Kalif Street, Wheeling, was charged with burglary after allegedly being foiled from stealing several items from a garage. On Oct. 17, Wheeling police say they encountered three people walking down Valley View Road with bicycles, and one with a weed whacker.
The group told police they had come together when one of them allegedly saw Tedesco stealing the bicycles and yard equipment out of their neighbor's garage.
One of the men said he confronted a man, later identified as Tedesco, about the thefts, but that Tedesco walked away from the confrontation. Police went searching for him, finding a man matching Tedesco's description near Alice Avenue. When asked by police to confirm that Tedesco was the man he encountered, the alleged victim confirmed that it was on second viewing. The neighbor who initially reported Tedesco's presence in the garage also confirmed that it was him.
Tedesco was arrested without incident and charged with burglary, a felony. He remains jailed in lieu of $3,000 bond.