Man stole thousands of dollars using 75-year-old woman's credit, police say

Officers were tipped off after Walmart security flagged suspicious transactions

Juan Fuentes Pimienta

MARGATE, Fla. – A North Lauderdale man was arrested Tuesday after racking up thousands of dollars' worth of charges at local Walmarts by using a 75-year-old Missouri woman's stolen credit card information, police said.

Juan Fuentes Pimienta, 26, faces charges of fraud, larceny less than $10,000 from a person older than 65 years old and using counterfeited credit cards. Pimienta appeared in bond court on Wednesday, where a judge set his bond at $11,400. 

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Margate police said Pimienta made a number of suspicious transactions just after 1 p.m. Tuesday at a Walmart in the 5500 block of Atlantic Boulevard. Those transactions drew the attention of Walmart security staff, who called police. 

Officers attempted to stop Pimienta outside the store, but he ran, police said. He was arrested without incident shortly thereafter, police said.

Officers found a bank card encoded with the victim's credit card information on Pimienta, police said. Detectives believe Pimienta was trying to transfer to funds from the victim's credit card account to Walmart gift cards.

Police said Pimienta siphoned more than $6,000 from the victim's credit card account. 

Police did not explain how Pimienta obtained the victim's credit card information.