BRPD warns about holiday theft and scams

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) is currently searching for two women, Kaise Jenkins and Rachel Henderson, both wanted for criminal conspiracy, 29 counts of felony theft, and 58 counts of access device fraud.

Lt. L’jean McKneely of the BRPD says the women both worked at a local fast food restaurant and collected information from customers.

“We believe it was multiple people who came in with their debit or credit card and purchased the item that they purchased, and from there they (Jenkins and Henderson) took the card, pulled information from the card and used those numbers to purchase items, says Lt. McKneely.

He says it happens often, especially around the holidays. He says these types of criminals make small purchases little by little so the card owner doesn’t notice. In some cases, these purchases amount to thousands of dollars.

“This is happening not just in Baton Rouge, but across the country. Again, this is the holiday season, there are a lot of scammers taking advantage of people. Watch your bank account,”

WAFB spoke with a woman, Caryn Alvarez, who says she has been a victim of debit/credit card theft. She says she thinks it started at a gas station.

“I had maybe about fifty dollars left of a few thousand. it was pretty devastating and now I have to rebuild that,” Alvarez said.

She advises people to not only check their bank account every day, but also research where you shop.

“Re-check what you’re spending your money on because I know some places – like I said, it might be a gas station, it might be a mom-and-pop store, you never know, but always make sure you spend your money money,” says Alvarez.

BRPD says if this happens or you notice anything suspicious, report it to your bank and file a police report.

BRPD also issued a warrant for the arrests of Jenkins and Henderson. If anyone has information on them, please call Crimestoppers or BRPD.

Click here report a typo. Add the headline.

Click here to subscribe to our daily WAFB 9 News digest and breaking news alerts delivered right to your email inbox.