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Woman Sought In ID Theft Ring Surrenders
4 People Arrested, 1 Still Outstanding
POSTED: 10:15 pm MST December 18,
2007
UPDATED: 12:55 pm MST December 20,
2007
PHOENIX -- A woman wanted in a major identity theft ring that victimized nearly 5,000 people turned herself in Wednesday night after seeing her picture on the news, Phoenix police said.Dora Gutierrez, 34, turned herself in at the Maryvale police precinct around 7:30 p.m. Police said she was booked on a felony forgery warrant and three additional counts of forgery.Gutierrez is accused of participating in a major identity theft ring whose members broke into mailboxes and stole a postal truck in their efforts to steal the personal information of nearly 5,000 people in the Phoenix area, investigators said.Phoenix police and the U.S. Postal Service cracked the theft ring last Wednesday when they served a search warrant at the Litchfield Park home of suspected ringleader Loretta Christie, 34. There, police said, detectives found the largest amount of stolen identity information they had ever seen."Personal information, credit cards spread all over," said Detective Matt Arndt with the Phoenix Police Department. "Open up a cabinet and there's more victims organized in a folder from A-Z."Police said they found a 3-foot by 2-foot box of stolen mail and cabinets full of 3-inch binders filled with more stolen mail.Detectives said they also found profiles of individual victims -- sheets of paper with the person's name, address and other identifying information, such as Social Security and bank account numbers.Detectives estimated there were nearly 5,000 victims in the case, many of whom are likely unaware their personal information was stolen. Detectives and postal officials are working to track down all of the victims.Police said Christie was not home when the warrant was served.On Dec. 14, police said, Christie opened a fraudulent account and made several transactions over the next few days. Patrol officers arrested her during a traffic stop Dec. 18.Police also arrested Christie's boyfriend, 34-year-old Gonzalo Olmeda, and an acquaintance, 31-year-old Lorraine Mendoza.Detectives are also searching for an unknown man who was photographed on surveillance video.
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