Delafield police bust four suspects in huge identity theft scam

DELAFIELD (WITI) -- On Tuesday, September 24th, Delafield Police busted four individuals they say were involved in a sophisticated identity theft operation. Now the Secret Service is involved to figure out just how complex the scam is.

Jeffrey Haynes, Ronald Williams, Daron Turner, and Jasmine Berry, all Illinois residents, are now behind bars. Authorities say they obtained detailed confidential and personal information about people in states such as Ohio and Florida -- including a 41-page credit report of one victim.

The suspects opened fraudulent credit cards and made false drivers licenses with their own photos.

The foursome took their scam to the Delafield Best Buy on Tuesday where Berry allegedly purchased thousands of dollars worth of electronics. An employee thought something about the transaction seemed off and alerted police.

"There was a woman inside who has purchased five iPads, about $700 each, and successfully made that purchase and decided to make a second purchase of $1,000 of gift cards. That's when the employee did some checking into the account and discovered it had been opened the previous day," explained Dan Bloedow of the Delafield Police Department.

Authorities discovered the three alleged accomplices waiting for Berry in a rented minivan. A search of the vehicle also uncovered marijuana and thousands of dollars worth of unused prepaid debit cards.

"It's very scary and disturbing. We're still looking into how that may have occurred and we'll try to determine a point of compromise. We have to get other agencies involved. Some of the identity theft victims are from out-of-state," said Bloedow.

All four suspects remain in jail with bail set between $25,000 and $50,000. They are set for court appearances on October 3rd.