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Information is wanted regarding the identity of a man who paid for nearly $7,000 in roofing shingles with a stolen credit card number.
Investigators are on the lookout for an unusual getaway vehicle following a suspected identity theft which took place at the Dahlonega Home Depot recently.
Last month a large rollback wrecker-truck pulled away from the Highway 400 store with a load full of roofing shingles. Behind the wheel was an unidentified white male wearing a World’s Greatest Papa T-shirt.
“About 200 bundles of shingles were packed on the back,” said Investigator Marcus Sewell of the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office. “…It was five pallets.”
On Friday, the LCSO released a photo of the suspect and his vehicle in hopes of tracking down leads that could point to the driver’s whereabouts. So far they haven’t received anything definitive but have generated leads of their own.
Sewell said that often identity thefts are hard cases to crack. But since this one took place in Lumpkin County, it could be different.
“A lot of times we’ll have victims whose card was used in New York or somewhere, but since it was used here we worked well with the Home Depot,” Sewell said. “With the video surveillance and other things they helped us with we were able to identify that this was the person that used the card.”
Sewell said the victim became aware of the theft when shopping at Home Depot on September 1.
By searching the surveillance database and matching the receipts they were able to come up with a footage of the suspect as he allegedly charged approximately $7,000 worth of roofing shingles by using a Lumpkin County resident’s credit card information.
Deputies are encouraging anyone with information regarding the suspect, the rollback truck or this incident to contact Investigator Brad Farris at 706-482-2625 or brad.farris@lumpkincounty.gov.
Meanwhile, Sewell said the case is a good reminder for residents to remain vigilant when it comes to protecting their credit card information.
“You have to be careful when you use credit cards online,” he said. “There’s all kinds of ways that people can get your information nowadays.”