Organized crime rings from New York have been targeting Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia to steal tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise, according to Fairfax County police, and some of the suspects are accused of using a U.S. Postal Service uniform and key to steal credit cards from people’s mailboxes.
The Louis Vuitton store contacted Tysons Urban Team officers at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 14 about two men who attempted to make a $21,000 purchase with a stolen credit card, police said. Officers observed the men get into a car with a woman and pulled them over, taking all three into custody.
Police recovered 36 fake driver’s licenses, 32 stolen credit cards, stolen mail, thousands of dollars in fraudulently purchased items, and other evidence of theft and fraud, including a USPS mail carrier uniform and a universal arrow key, which allows postal workers to open any collection boxes in a specific zip code, police said.
“They had stolen credit cards from the mailboxes and they had made fictitious IDs,” Fairfax County police Lt. Will Arnest said. “And they were using the IDs, then, with the credit cards, to purchase high-end items at the stores in our area.”
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All three suspects were from New York and were held without bond.
The Tysons Urban Team took down another organized theft ring this week, police said.
A Sunglasses Hut employee contacted officers to report a theft. Officers observed three suspects on surveillance video and arrested them in the mall, police said.
Police recovered thousands of dollars in merchandise stolen from several stores in Tysons Corner Center.
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Those three suspects, also from New York, also were held without bond.
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