CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Three women stopped Wednesday for speeding on Interstate 75 have been arrested on charges of identity theft, forgery, illegal possession of a credit card and theft over $10,000, the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office said.
The women were traveling in a red Ford Escape that was listed as stolen in Georgia, said Steve Lawson, director of the 10th Judicial District Drug Task Force.
Task force members pulled over Patricia Diane Maben, 50, of Atlanta; Rachel Sheryl Casey, 27, of Snellville, Ga.; and driver Miiya Queyana Brown, 35, of Jonesboro, Ga., for going 75 mph in a 70 mph zone about 7:30 p.m., he said.
Upon investigation, the task force found goods valued at $1,643 that the women had purchased in another woman’s name, the task force report said.
The women are accused of opening a temporary line of credit at Lowe’s Hardware in Athens, Tenn., and at Target in Cleveland, using the name of a Sandy Springs, Ga., woman who didn’t know about the scheme, the drug task force report stated. The items were recovered from the car, the report stated.
The three are being held at the Bradley County Jail, sheriff’s office spokesman Bob Gault said.
Maben has a $5,000 bond on a forgery charge, a $10,000 bond on identity theft and a $10,000 bond on a fraudulent use of a credit card charge, but no bond on the charge of theft over $10,000, Gault said.
Casey and Brown did not get bond, he said.
Lawson said the investigation is ongoing.