Warning to would-be crooks: Don’t try to rack up Kroger fuel points when you’re buying stuff with a stolen credit card.
That’s what apparently led postal investigators to former mail carrier Arlie O. Ruff of Bexley.
Ruff, 67, was in U.S. District Court yesterday on charges that he used credit cards from mail stolen along his Galloway and Far West Side route between 2003 and 2009. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.
A 2009 search warrant for Ruff’s home at 736 Chelsea Ave. says that special agents tracked him down through his Kroger Plus card. Ruff used the card when he bought nearly $7,000 in gas, merchandise and gift cards with several credit cards that he had stolen from customers along his mail route, the warrant says.
Investigators started looking into Ruff after one of his postal customers reported unauthorized charges on a credit-card account in 2009. Investigators with the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General found that the charges were linked to a Kroger Plus card that Ruff had, the warrant says.
Kroger Plus card links ex-mailman to stolen credit cards, investigators say
One excellent way to be smart enough to never get caught stealing, if its not yours leave it alone. Don’t belong to you don’t touch it. If its borrowed carry it to rightful owner.
some people just can’t help it, he is just a petty thief that’s all, if you steal, steal big you still have to do the time.