Two Suspects Arrested in Grover Beach Skimming Device Operation
Originally Published By Grover Beach Police Department
“ATM CARD SKIMMER SUSPECTS ARRESTED
Over the past few weeks, the City of Grover Beach and many other Central Coast communities have experienced skimming devices placed into local ATM machines. The skimming devices are used to capture personal identifying information of cardholders that is later used to commit fraud and identity theft.
On Tuesday, November 15, 2023, GBPD officers located a skimming device on a Bank of America ATM located at 1564 W. Grand Avenue in Grover Beach. The device was removed, and investigators worked to identify the suspects. The next day a GBPD officer on proactive patrol located another skimming device in the same ATM machine. Officers determined it was installed early in the morning. Following investigative leads, the suspects were identified.
Later Wednesday afternoon, the same GBPD officer was patrolling the parking lot near the ATM machine. He spotted the suspects as they were approaching the ATM. One suspect was detained while the other drove away. He was contacted a few minutes later during a traffic stop entering the City of Arroyo Grande. During the traffic stop, evidence was located, and both suspects were arrested.
43-year-old Catalin Constantinescu, and 56-year-old Stefan Costache, both of Romania, were arrested for multiple felony identity theft charges. Both suspects were transported to the San Luis Obispo County Jail where they were booked. Their bond amount was set at $200,000 apiece.
This investigation is ongoing. If you have information that would be helpful to this investigation, please contact the GBPD Detective Bureau at 805-473-4570.
The Grover Beach Police Department would like to thank our partners at the San Luis Obispo Police Department and the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance with this investigation.
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Name of Officer Completing Release:
Jim Munro, Commander
jmunro@gbpd.org”
