BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Credit card scheme entraps local woman

A Laguna Beach woman has apparently been entangled in an international credit card fraud scheme based in Ghana, Sgt. Jason Kravetz said.

The woman, who was not identified because she is considered a victim, was receiving items at her Center Street home that turned out to have been purchased with a stolen credit card, Kravetz said.

The woman was then shipping the items to another address on the East Coast to be forwarded to the suspect in Ghana.

Police became aware of the scam when a woman in Massachusetts called Laguna Beach police Aug. 15 to report that about $1,500 worth of faux furs had been charged fraudulently on her credit card and shipped to the Laguna Beach address.

Police met with the resident of the home where the items were sent, and said she had given the suspect in Ghana money from her own accounts. A total of more than $70,000 is believed to have been stolen in the scam, according to police records.

Texas man arrested in theft of Mini Cooper

David Patrick Rider of Texas was arrested Aug. 15 on suspicion of stealing a Mini Cooper from the 2700 block of South Coast Highway the previous evening, Kravetz said.

The vehicle was reported stolen at 8:45 p.m. Aug. 14 after having been parked on the street since 7 p.m. The vehicle was equipped with Lo-Jack, and the next morning around 6:29 a.m. Buena Park police were able to track the vehicle on the 5 Freeway, where they made a “high-risk stop�� and arrested the suspect, Kravetz said.

Two separate Cox phone scams reported

In two separate incidents, Laguna Beach residents reported being approached “� at the door and on the phone “� by con artists posing as Cox Communications employees.

In an incident Friday, the victim, on Terry Road, received a call on her home phone around 12:41 p.m. from a person representing themselves as an employee of Cox, who asked the victim to enter numbers into the phone to “check�� her phone service.

When the victim hung up, she became suspicious and called Cox to verify the call, and was told she had been “conned,�� Kravetz said.

Using the information obtained from the victim, the suspects could have charged phone calls to her number, but Cox was able to halt any such charges, Kravetz said.

On Saturday, a resident in the 31000 block of Santa Rosa Drive told police someone claiming to be a Cox repair man came to the door at 1:05 p.m., but there was no order for service from the telephone company, according to police records.

Teen arrested in beer theft from market

A 17-year-old Lake Forest boy was arrested Aug. 15 after he allegedly stuffed a backpack full of about $30 worth of beer at a market in the 600 block of North Coast Highway and left the store without paying at 5:07 p.m., Kravetz said.

Store security officers apprehended him at the market, and held him for police, who eventually released him to his mother.

Masseuse says client groped her, exposed self

Laguna Beach police are investigating a claim by a masseuse on the 1700 block of South Coast Highway that a customer grabbed her chest and then exposed himself at 10:12 a.m. Aug. 16, Kravetz said.

Parking receipts stolen from sheds

Abut $1,500 in cash from parking receipts was reported stolen from a parking lot in the 200 block of Ocean Avenue at 9:56 a.m. Aug. 17, Kravetz said.

The thieves cut the locks on two sheds overnight to get the money.