Ponca City Arrest Leads To Secret Service Investigation

A Ponca City police officer whose shifted had ended made an arrest that required federal attention.

Hi-Fi Systems reported a fraudulent check to Ponca City police.

The clerk was able to provide a description of the person and vehicle, which helped Manny Lara identify the vehicle a few days later.

Ironically, Lara pulled the car over on a traffic violation in Hi-Fi’s parking lot, the descriptions matched and the suspects were arrested.

Police Chief Don Bohon said the Secret Service was called because of what they found in the suspects hotel room.

“But as they did the search warrant and they found credit cards, state IDs and licenses and social security cards, checking account information that had been stolen out of mailboxes all kinds of stuff,” Bohon said.

The Secret Service was called in because they have specialized equipment and employees, and the crimes were committed across state lines.

Randy Tyner, Ponca City detective division captain said victims were mostly individuals, not companies.

“I can tell you so far our investigator has developed 16 local victims in our area, outside Ponca City boundary lines but still close to Ponca City,” Tyner said.

Among Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri there have been more than 60 victims.

Bohon’s suggestion to help prevent this from happening is retrieve your mail as soon as possible and invest in a locked mailbox.

They couldn’t say what punishment the suspects will receive since it’s in the federal courts hands.