ST. GEORGE — A Hurricane man was arrested Wednesday following an investigation into allegations that a credit card turned up missing and then was used to make over $1,000 in purchases at a big-box retailer in Washington City, where each transaction was caught on security footage.
The investigation that led to the arrest was launched on Nov. 9, when officers followed up on a report of credit card fraud.
The victim told officers she had lost her credit card at a local business in Washington City, and noticed multiple charges made using the card a week after it went missing.
The caller also told officers she had cancelled the card right after, but more than $1,000 in bogus transactions was charged to the card.
Once officers were able to view the bank statements, they discovered a majority of the purchases were made at the Walmart store in Washington City, which is equipped with high-quality surveillance cameras.
Authorities reached out to Walmart’s loss prevention department and provided information on the stolen credit card, and shortly thereafter officers were provided still images of the suspect linked to the use of that particular card, as well as video footage captured of the same individuals.
When officers viewed the footage captured from the parking lot, they noticed one of the suspects getting into a rental vehicle after making the purchase with the credit card. Officers were then able to trace the rental vehicle to a man who told police during questioning that he received the card from 24-year-old Hurricane resident Chanz Dallas Wilcox.
Officers also spoke to a female suspect who positively identified Wilcox as the suspect reportedly responsible for making 10 of the transactions using the stolen card. A second individual who never used the card also identified Wilcox as the one who made the charges.
As the interviews continued, officers obtained the home address for Wilcox who was later questioned by authorities, at which point police say, the suspect admitted he was the one in the footage, but then denied stealing the credit card. Instead, he said, the card was given to him by his girlfriend.
Officers then noticed a tattoo on the suspect’s wrist that matched the one seen in the footage.
Officers arrested Wilcox shortly after noon on Wednesday. He was then transported and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility facing one count of possession of financial transaction information and 10 counts of unlawful use of a financial transaction card.
At the time of the arrest, the suspect had several open cases still in the courts at the time of his arrest, including a felony retaliation against a witness case filed in July involving a series of text messages the suspect allegedly sent to an individual threatening the recipient and their family members if they did not drop the charges.
The suspect is also facing a felony drug case filed in February that is still moving through the courts.
Ed. Note: A new Utah law generally prohibits the release of arrest booking photos until after a conviction is obtained.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.