Two men and a woman from the Bronx are facing charges in Southington after trying to access another person’s cellphone account in order to obtain high-end phones, according to police.
Police said 26-year-old Jazmin Toribio walked into Simply Wireless at 966 Queen Street on Tuesday afternoon and asked to add phones to her account.
She showed employees a fraudulent driver’s license bearing the name of an actual account holder and was able to answer questions about the account. But police said her behavior aroused suspicion, and store workers – who were aware of similar frauds – called authorities.
When officers showed up, employees pointed them to a gray Acura with New York plates parked on the side of the building.
They found 21-year-old Jose Rainiel Rivera Hernandez and 22-year-old Juan Francisco Sanchez Ramos in the car, waiting for Toribio.
Police said the suspects’ stories didn’t match up when officers asked what they were doing in Southington, and the actual account holder had not authorized any changes to the account.
According to police, Rivera Hernandez and Sanchez Ramos had provided Toribio with the fraudulent license, and the three “had come to Connecticut with the purpose of obtaining cell phones by adding lines onto accounts of unsuspecting Verizon customers.”
They were arrested and taken into custody in Southington.
Toribio was charged with third-degree identity theft and criminal attempt to commit fifth-degree larceny. She was released on $20,000 bond and is due in court Sept. 15.
Sancez Ramos was charged with conspiracy to commit identity theft and conspiracy to commit fifth-degree larceny, and Rivera Hernandez was charged with trafficking in personal identifying information, conspiracy to commit identity theft and conspiracy to commit fifth-degree larceny.
Both Sanchez Ramos and Rivera Hernandez were held on $25,000 bond and appeared in court Thursday.
