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Moshia Barnes, 28, of New Rochelle, was arrested around 5:39 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 11, after officers responded to the Patagonia store on Post Road East in Westport, for a complaint of attempted larceny, said the Lt. Anthony Prezioso of the Westport Police.
Employees alleged that Barnes had attempted to purchase a jacket valued at $799 with what appeared to them to be a fraudulent credit card, Prezioso said.
The clerk observed that the digits printed on the card did not match the digits returned by the computer while attempting to process the payment, police said.
Barnes refused to provide his name when asked and left the store prior to completing the transaction, claiming that he planned to obtain cash from an ATM in the area in order to make the purchase, Prezioso said.
Staff called police and provided a description of Barnes who was quickly located in the area by responding officers.
During a search, Barnes was found to be in possession of an apparently fraudulent credit card; the account information programmed on the card did not match the information printed on the physical card itself, Prezioso said.
He was also found to be in possession of a credit card scanner; a device used to reprogram/re-encode credit card’s magnetic strips.
Barnes reportedly did admit to attempting the purchase at the Patagonia store with a fraudulent credit card, Prezioso added.
Barnes was criminal attempt at larceny, possession of a re-encoder/scanning device, and illegal use of a credit card.
Barnes was able to post a $5,000 bond and was released from custody.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, Jan. 16, at Norwalk Superior Court.
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