Two teen employees at a Burger King in Douglas have been charged on multiple counts for allegedly taking photos of customers' credit cards before using them to make several purchases. The first victim mentioned that over $2,000 in purchases were attempted on her card, with other victims coming forward since the initial report was made.
According to a Douglas Police Department incident report, an officer was dispatched to Burger King, located at 1340 South Peterson Avenue, in reference to a credit card theft on May 23.
When the officer arrived, according the report, he spoke to the manager of the fast food restaurant, who informed him that she had video footage of two employees, 17-year-old Zyikieus Riles and a 16-year-old, taking a picture of a customer's credit card on May 21, 2023, around 9:46 p.m. The report says that she also reported that her card was used after the picture was taken.
The video was then shown to the officer, which he described as showing the 16-year-old "grab the card from the customer in the drive-thru, then turn, keeping his back to the window, and hold the card so that Riles could take a picture of the card. Riles then took a picture of the card and walked away."
The report states that the Burger King manager told the officer that Riles and the juvenile were scheduled to be at the location at 2:00 p.m. for a shift and that she would contact him when they showed up. While waiting for her call, the officer spoke with the victim, who reported that she first discovered the charges on her account on May 22 around 12:20 a.m., just a few hours after she went through the drive thru.
According to the victim, the charges included a $1 transaction at McDonald's, $110 at Innocency Clothes, $1 at GameStop, two $1 charges at Amazon, three $1 charges at Apple, and a $1,186 charge from Apple. She said that the $1 charge at McDonald's was the only one that went through since she canceled her card before the other transactions were made.
At 4:00 p.m., the officer was dispatched back to Burger King South and spoke with Riles, the report states. He reportedly told the officer that he was "trying to pay for a meal, and the juvenile told him to take a picture of the card." He also allegedly claimed to know nothing about the charges reported by the victim and that the juvenile told him to send the picture to his Snapchat.
The officer also noted that he looked through Riles’ phone gallery and found no photographs of a credit card.
According to the officer's report, he then went to the Douglas Police Department and met with the juvenile and his mother. He reported that the juvenile declined to speak to law enforcement and did not give consent for them to search his phone.
The officer said he filled out a complaint form and served it to the juvenile, as well as handing his mother a release form to sign. He stated that he informed them that the Department of Juvenile Justice will contact them.
Riles was arrested and transported to the Coffee County Jail, according to the report and a copy of the jail roster. He was charged with six counts of financial transaction card fraud and one count of financial identity fraud. Documents filed in the Superior Court of Coffee County, he was released on bond later that day.
Officials stated that the investigation is still ongoing, as other individuals have come forward with similar allegations. If you have any information about the case or believe you may be a victim, call the Douglas Police Department at (912) 384-2222.
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