Hampton man charged with 13 counts of card fraud
Published 7:38 am Tuesday, July 15, 2014
A Hampton man was arrested Sunday morning and is facing charges that he made several purchases with another person’s debit card.
Larry Mitchell Lyons, 30, 225 Swimming Pool Road, Hampton, was charged with 13 counts of illegal possession or fraudulent use of a credit/debit card.
The investigation by Carter County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Janice Black started after the card holder was contacted by her bank about transactions that were unusual to the account, and the account was then closed.
According to the warrant for Lyons’ arrest, the card was used at the Family Dollar store in Hampton. Employees said two men came into the store and used the card. They said one of the men, identified as “Larry,” according to the warrant, inquired about getting cash back from the card and was told he could not without the personal identification number.
Black said she obtained video of the two men at the Hampton Roadrunner on June 8 trying to use the automatic teller machine to withdraw $300 with the card.
Black said the men purchased a radiator for a 1997 Subaru Legacy at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Store in Elizabethton on Aug. 8 for $147.04. Employees said the men wanted to bring the radiator back for cash.
Also on June 8, Black said in the warrant she found video from the Elizabethton Wal-Mart that showed the men trying to use the card several times. She said four transactions totaling $390.76 were denied and one purchase was approved for $43.86.
According to Black, another transaction of $112.50 on June 8 at the Tobacco Depot on Broad Street was denied. The warrant said the card was used for $5.76 at the Dollar General Store in Hampton, and that a Red Box purchase of $1.32 was also approved on June 8.