Police said they arrested Lisa Stallworth, 46, of 27 Dean St. Apt. 2 in Norwood, on charges of larceny over $250, credit card fraud over $250, receiving stolen property over $250 and giving a false name to police following arrest after she stole a Dedham woman’s American Express card to make numerous purchases.
Lt. Robert Nedder said Dedham police got involved on Friday, Feb. 19, when the victim told an officer that her credit card had been stolen and used the day before. The woman said she had last made a purchase at the Radio Shack on Providence Highway, he said.
She realized the card was missing on the Feb. 19, called American Express, and learned that purchases had been charged on her card that she didn’t make, Nedder said.
Officer Richard Porro investigated in the following days, looking at security videos in which he saw the presumed female suspect making fraudulent purchases at different Dedham Mall stores, Nedder said. Sears said the woman bought a refrigerator and set a pickup date for that, but didn’t come by to get it, Nedder added.
But on Feb. 22 Sears loss prevention called Porro, saying a woman in the store was attempting to return jewelry and clothing they knew was bought on Feb. 18 with the stolen AmEx card, and the description they gave matched with the suspect Porro was looking for, Nedder said.
At the mall, Porro and other police officers learned that the woman had left Sears for Old Navy. A short time later, they spotted a woman later identified as Stallworth hiding in the shrubs near the DSW store, Nedder said. She fled as Porro, Officer Kevin Mahoney, and Detective Robert Walsh approached, but they immediately stopped her, he said.
She had with her items that were fraudulently purchased on Feb. 18 with the AmEx card, Nedder said. And when officers unzipped her jacket, some clothing fell out, which proved to them that she was trying to change her appearance when they found her, Nedder said.
The suspect’s buys ranged from the big (the fridge from Sears) to the small, a purple iPod Nano from Radio Shack, according to Nedder.
She gave one name at the scene and during booking, but through fingerprinting, police learned that her true name is Lisa Stallworth, Nedder said.
Stallworth pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in Dedham District Court Feb. 23, and is due back there for a pretrial conference March 19, Nedder said.
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
