Daily Journal staff reports
A woman is facing 45 criminal charges for a crime spree across several communities, including Greenwood.
Police said that Kacey Rucker, 35, stole and used the credit cards of more than 20 victims during the course of several months. In some cases, she used the victims’ identification cards to create counterfeit checks or commit forgery, police said.
Four employees of a Greenwood business, RaeLynn’s Boutique, had their wallets stolen when two women came into the clothing store in January, according to a probable cause affidavit that outlines the charges against Rucker.
Their cases are part of the charges against Rucker announced Wednesday by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. She has been charged with one count of corrupt business influence, four counts of forgery, two counts of counterfeiting and 38 counts of theft.
Rucker is believed to have stolen from employees working at businesses in Indianapolis, Greenwood, Avon and Kokomo, according to court documents. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Organized Crime Unit, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said in a news release.
In the Greenwood case, Rucker and another woman came into the store, according to the probable cause affidavit. While one woman distracted employees, another woman went into the employee-only area of the building at 455 Greenwood Park South Drive and took the wallets from four employees’ purses, the court document said.
In total, the four Greenwood employees reported losing $320 in cash and more than $2,200 in fraudulent charges on their credit or debit cards.
Multiple victims told police about similar scenarios of theft from their workplaces, according to the prosecutor’s office. Rucker is identified as one of two or three people who would gain access to employee-only areas and steal employee wallets and other personal information.
“This is the second case in recent months where an individual is accused of stealing wallets from employees while at work. In most of these scenarios, the victims were not aware of the theft until they received a bank alert of suspicious purchases,” Curry said in the news release.
Multiple pieces of evidence containing victims’ personal information were recovered from Rucker’s home during the investigation, including driver’s licenses or identification cards, paystubs and checkbooks.
A second suspect, Monique Turnbow, has been charged separately for her role in the scheme, the prosecutor’s office said.
Rucker is held by the Indiana Department of Correction on an unrelated case.
