INDIAN RIVER SHORES — Police are trying to figure out how a woman obtained credit card information belonging to a 97-year-old Indian River Shores resident, using it to rent a limo for her own son’s birthday bash in March.
Brittny Walker
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Police said suspect Brittny Jaquel Walker, of Lauderdale Lakes, put the credit card information onto a Green Dot card, or a prepaid debit card. In March, Walker, 30, charged $1,500 to rent the bus limo for her son’s 10th birthday party.
Walker took pictures and video of the celebration and shared them to social media, officers said.
The video showed young children holding up money, “fanned out,” reports show. Indian River Shores detectives called Miami Limo Rental and obtained a photo copy of the contract, which had Walker’s driver’s license, Green Dot debit card with her name on it and rental agreement.
“We don’t know how she got the credit card information,” Indian River Shores Public Safety Detective Rodney Grass said. “We weren’t able to obtain (Walker’s) connection to Indian River County.”
Thursday, police arrested Walker on charges of third-degree grand theft and criminal use of personal identification information. Walker was released Thursday from the Indian River County Jail on $15,000 bond.
The victim’s daughter went to Indian River Shores Public Safety Department in May to report the unauthorized charges on her mother’s Bank of America credit card. The woman’s mother has health issues and is unable to speak, police said.
Charges to the card on March 8 were for $1,500 from Miami Limo Coach, and nearly $300 for Fun Spot America Theme Parks, located in Orlando, reports show. Two more charges, dated March 10, for $422 and $839, were from the Jazz in the Gardens music festival.
Through research, police and the woman’s daughter linked Walker to at least one of the incidents – the limo rental. Grass said he thinks other people might also have been using the card.
Police obtained the bus limo contract information in June, which had Walker’s identification information. Police learned the Green Dot card Walker used had the same account number as the victim’s Bank of America credit card, reports show.
Police called Walker and told her they had information linking her to fraudulent credit card transactions. Walker denied the accusations, said she rented the limo through an online agency and paid for it in cash, reports show.
Police arrested Walker and took her to the county jail. Walker has an arraignment at 8:45 a.m. Dec. 6, court records show.