Seven charged in theft ring operation

Police said Tuesday they have broken up a theft ring operating out of Fayetteville in which stolen identities were used to scam at least $51,000 worth of goods from Lowe's stores.

Six city residents and a Laurinburg woman are charged with 69 felonies, including identity theft, obtaining property by false pretense, conspiracy, possessing marijuana with intent to sell and deliver and keeping a drug house, according to Detective Christopher Cody of the Police Department.

Five women and one man are accused of using at least 11 people's identities to place orders by phone or over the Internet for items at Lowe's stores in Fayetteville; Lumberton; Laurinburg; Rockingham; Dale City, Va;, Liburn , Ga.; Opelika , Ala.; and Staten Island, N.Y., Cody said.

Once the items were received, they were either sold on the street or through Internet sites such as Craigslist, Cody said.

Officers recovered property valued at $11,500 from a home on the 6500 block of Amanda Circle when they executed a search warrant, Cody said. Officers also found marijuana inside the residence, he said.

Four of the seven who were charged lived at the residence. They are Richard McLean, 36; Michelle McLean, 41; Patricia Shears, 61; and Kymeya Jones, 21.

The remaining three people charged are China Haywood, 30, of the 2100 block of Delta Drive; Brenda Star Cole, 56, of the 6000 block of Dahlgren Avenue; and Wendy Robinson, 35, of the 300 block of Pitts Street in Laurinburg.

Investigators are still looking for Robinson and for Lashondra McCrimmon , 31, who lives at the same residence, Cody said.

McCrimmon, who is on parole for fraud-related charges, is a person of interest in the case, Cody said.

The investigation began with calls from some victims who reported items were being billed to their Lowe's accounts, Cody said.

"While working with Loss Prevention agents at the stores, we found more victims," Cody said.

There may be others, he said.

Bail information on those who have been arrested was not given.