Vernal Police arrested a man for a felony credit card case using the stolen card 185 times
- Travis Uresk
- Nov 20, 2024
- 5 min read
By Travis Uresk
11/20/24
| Vernal, Ut. | November 18th, 2024 |
Sgt. Watt arrested 57-year-old Richard “Rick” Earl Hodges for a felony credit card case.
Sgt. Watt was driving through the Mile High Trailer Park, where Rick was now working when he was informed of the officer's intent to arrest him for the case.
Without being questioned, Rick commented that the company gave him the card to use, and he returned it after he was terminated. The officer explained that he did not return it after being terminated, and instead, he continued making numerous charges. Rick also commented that he never received his last paycheck, which the officer interpreted as the reason for using the debit card.
Richard was polite but became somewhat argumentative about the charges, at which point Sgt. Watt decided to arrest him immediately instead of letting him return his tools to the shop several hundred feet away. Richard was taken into custody without incident.
During the search, the officer could feel a piece of paper, a lighter, and a quarter in his right front pocket. While Richard was being moved to a patrol vehicle, he stated that he would tell Sgt. Watt something if he didn't get extra charges.
The officer asked him if he had drugs on his person, and he stated that he did. Richards's pockets were searched again, and a baggie of meth was found in his right front pocket with the piece of paper.
Assisting officers transported Richard to the Uintah County Jail.
A criminal history for Richard Hodges was conducted by dispatch, who advised that he had three or more previous drug convictions in the past seven years. For this reason, the charge of possession of methamphetamine was enhanced to a third-degree felony.
On 9/14/24, Sgt. Watt received a text message from Walmart’s Loss Prevention Investigator with a photo of a male who had been involved in a retail theft incident.
The officer was told that the financial card used came back to a male individual who owns a local business. The officer contacted the owner concerning the card and was informed that he just discovered that the debit card was missing and reported it to his bank.
Sgt. Watt forwarded him a picture of the male who was involved in the retail theft and used his card. The business owner positively identified the suspect as 57-year-old Richard "Rick" Earl Hodges.
The owner reported that Rick was an employee of the company and had been terminated on 8/16/24.
On 9/19/24, the owner came to the police department and reported multiple unauthorized charges, beginning long before Rick had been terminated. Rick was hired on 5/28/2024 and later terminated or dismissed on 8/16/2024.
During Rick's tenure at the company, the owner stated that there were probably times when he used the shop's debit card to make authorized purchases for tools or equipment, but they would have receipts for those purchases.
The debit card was said to have been typically kept in the secretary's office desk, and if needed, the secretary or the owner would retrieve it for a particular purchase. It is unknown how Rick came to be in possession of the card, and the owner only realized it was missing after they were going over some recent suspicious charges that appeared on the bank statement.
The owner provided 26 pages of transactions with that particular debit card. The dates of the bank transactions ranged from 6/17/2024 until 9/12/2024 when they noticed some of the recent charges on 9/12/2024 that appeared to be fraudulent internet charges. This was when the owner found the card missing and reported it to his bank.
Upon reviewing the bank statements, the owner determined that the last couple of pages were valid and authorized charges, the oldest charges. Some of these included reoccurring charges attached to that particular debit card and charges for equipment or travel related to the business. Intermingled with those authorized charges were several questionable charges for fast food with an abnormally higher than average cost and another charge at Chevron Station, but it was unknown which one.
The owner stated he did not authorize fuel or any other purchases from Chevron, which was why he questioned them, and he didn't give anyone permission to use that card to purchase food.
There were 185 unauthorized transactions from 7/11/2024 through 9/12/2024. 75 of these transactions happened while Rick Hodges was employed with Vernal Hay Company (7/11/2024 through 8/16/2024).
110 of these unauthorized transactions happened after Rick Hodges was terminated and is no longer employed (8/19/2024 through 9/12/2024). The Grand Total Value for all 185 unauthorized transactions was $8,409.13.
In going over each specific charge with the owner a lot of them were from different convenience stores (7-Eleven Stores in Vernal and Maeser, Maverick Stores in Vernal and Naples, and Chevron Stores unknown location). These purchases were primarily for tobacco products, food and other misc. items that would not be related to the Vernal Hay Company and what they deal in.
There were also found to be some convenience store transactions that appeared to be fuel and/or food purchases in Roosevelt City, Emery County, and Heber City that happened between 9/10/2024 and 9/12/2024. Other unauthorized charges include but were not limited to Vapor Sensations Smoke Shop, The Sage Smoke Shop, Sally Beauty, Autozone Auto Parts, O'Reilly's Auto Parts, Lowes, Sportsman's Warehouse, and Walgreens, Davis Food and Drug, and Walmart.
Several times while Sgt. Watt and the owner went through each charge. The owner was asked if Rick would have had permission to possess or use the card at some of the particular businesses. Each time the owner stated that Rick wouldn't have had permission or authorization.
To further the investigation, Sgt. Watt began contacting the local businesses for video surveillance and receipts to see if the item(s) purchased could have been for the Vernal Hay Company. These included receipts from two auto parts stores in Vernal. After reviewing the receipts and showing some of them to the owner, it was determined that these were not authorized purchases.
Some of the auto part purchases were for specific vehicles the business does not own or work on, but they matched the ones that Rick or his mother owns. Sgt. Watt also found that during some of the purchases, a rewards card or customer card was used for warranty information, and the name on the account was Rick's mother.
Throughout the investigation, Sgt. Watt obtained 68 different receipts from various local businesses. Many other receipts were no longer available or became unobtainable after some time.
The officer also obtained 42 different surveillance videos with accompanying receipts. In each video surveillance video, Rick made the purchase using a debit card he did not have authorization to have or use. Twenty-four of the 42 surveillance videos happened after Rick was terminated.
Richard "Rick" Earl Hodges was arrested and charged with obtaining or acquiring a financial transaction card without permission from the owner, then turned around and used it 185 times, totaling $8409.13 in unauthorized charges, a second-degree felony.
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