Bay Point Couple Arrested with Cloned Credit cards in Carmel

CARMEL— Authorities from Monterey County Sheriff’s Department arrested Otis Lewis Hickman, 35, and his wife Jazzmin Veronica Lynne Cooper, 24, both of Bay Point California on suspicion of committing credit card fraud.

Otis Lewis Hickman

In the early morning hours of Sunday morning, Deputies stopped a vehicle on Highway One and Ocean Avenue in Carmel that was being driven by Hickman.  Upon searching the vehicle deputies found cloned credit cards.

The suspects admitted to using the fraudulent credit cards at six businesses on the Monterey Peninsula in little over a three hours, purchasing over $500.00 worth of merchandise.  Later that day, authorities served a search warrant at the couple’s residence in Bay Point.

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Department, along with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department and the United States Secret Service, conducted the search of the residence in Bay Point.  The City of Bay Point, California lies between the cities of Concord and Pittsburg on Highway 4.

Jazzmin Veronica Lynne Cooper

During the search they found numerous items consistent with the manufacturing of cloned credit cards.   “Because of the nature of this case, and that the investigation is still ongoing, we can not disclose any more information at this time.”  Monterey County Sheriff’s Department Commander Lisa Mash said.

Authorities believe that the couple has been conducting fraudulent transactions throughout northern and central California.

The Monterey County Sheriff Department would like to thank the Contra Costa County Sheriff Department and the US Secret Service for their assistance in what they believe was a large-scale credit card cloning.

Authorities also believe that the amount of loss is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from the amount of evidence seized of the residence during the search.

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KSBW.com: Sheriff: 2 arrested in Carmel with ‘cloned credit cards’