NEWS

10 NYPD officers victimized in Peekskill identity theft

TERENCE CORCORAN

11/6/2007 - PEEKSKILL - An identity-theft ring that victimized 10 New York City police officers, all from the same unit, has been broken, police said today. The investigation resulted in the arrests of a former clerk at the Radio Shack store in the Beach Shopping Plaza and a civilian employee of the NYPD unit who, police said, provided the identities of the 10 officers, said Detective Sgt. Eric Johansen. He would only identify it as a Bronx-based housing unit. The identities were used to acquire credits cards at the Radio Shack. Each card had a credit limit of anywhere from $750 to $2,000, police said. The cards were then used to buy high-end items at the store, including televisions, cell phones and digital cameras, Johansen said. Close to $10,000 in items were bought fraudulently, he said. Most of the items were sold for cash, although police did recover some of the property. The former store clerk, Candace Johnson-Davis, 19, of Van Cortandt Avenue, Yonkers, was charged with third-degree grand larceny, a felony, police said. The NYPD civilian employee who police said provided the officers' identities, Laquaja Price, 20, of Adee Avenue, Bronx, was charged with first-degree identity theft and third-degree grand larceny, felonies, police said. Three others also face misdemeanor charges, police said. Johansen said the NYPD is also investigating and that the defendants could face additional charges there.