Jasmine Renee St. Cloud

WARSAW — A Gary woman was recently arrested after allegedly using fraudulent credit cards to purchase more than $1,000 worth of cigarettes from local gas stations.

Jasmine Renee St. Cloud, 23, 1936 Hanley St., Apt. 112, Gary, is being charged with corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony; and two counts of fraud and one count of theft, all level 6 felonies.

On March 4, an officer with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office spoke with management at a Lassus Handy Dandy gas station. Management told the officer that on March 3, two men and a woman, later identified as St. Cloud, used fraudulent credit cards to purchase a large number of cigarettes from their three stores, all located in Kosciusko County.

According to court documents, St. Cloud purchased $1,055.82 of cigarettes with a fraudulent credit card. On March 4, the credit card was declined. During these purchases, two men with St. Cloud purchased a large amount of cigarettes and lottery tickets with fraudulent credit cards.

The officer contacted other police agencies and received information that three people matching the descriptions of those involved in Handy Dandy purchases were using fraudulent credit cards across northern Indiana at multiple locations.

On March 7, the officer spoke with a manager of a truck stop who said two men and St. Cloud attempted to use the same type of fraudulent credit cards used in Warsaw. The truck stop clerk became suspicious and asked St. Cloud for identification. The officer obtained a photograph of the driver’s license and was able to identify the woman using the fraudulent credit cards as St. Cloud.

St. Cloud was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Aug. 15, with a $10,250 surety and cash bond.

Court paperwork did not provide any details about the two men.