ST. GEORGE — Two people were arrested when the Washington City Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service joined forces to investigate a report of a gift card destined for Chicago that never made it to its destination.
Officers in Washington City received a report of an online theft, and according to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrests, the incident was reported by an individual who said he had mailed a $500 gift card his mother in Chicago on Sept. 28, to purchase groceries.
But the card was reportedly used to buy groceries at a store in St. George.
“The card had been purchased by the victim and loaded with money for his mother to use to purchase goods,” the officer noted in the report.
When the caller discovered that the gift card never arrived, he contacted the grocery store chain to report the incident and to find out what had happened. It was during the call that the reporting party learned that the gift card did not make it to Illinois. Instead, the representative told the caller the gift card had been used multiple times at Smith’s Food and Drug on Bluff Street in St. George.
From there, the caller reported the incident to the U.S. Postal Service and also to police.
Officers contacted the Office of Inspector General and spoke to the special agent who was assigned to conduct an internal investigation into the incident.
The federal investigator sent a subpoena to the grocery store requesting information on each of the transactions that were paid for using the gift card, including any customer discount card information. In response, the company provided information revealing three separate transactions that were paid for using the gift card in question, including screenshots that captured images of the suspects using the card.
Two of the transactions involved a man and a woman making the purchases together, while the third transaction involved just the female. The agent also learned that a customer discount card was used during each of the purchases, but the information on the loyalty card provided by the store did not match any of the post office employees. The agent then learned the card may have belonged to a contracted employee who worked at the post office as a janitor.
The subcontracted employee was identified as Juan Rodriguez, 35, of St. George. Agents also determined that Rodriguez’s home address matched the address listed on the grocery store discount card that was issued Angelica Rosales-Garcia, 25.
The report also states that officers learned from the postmaster that Rodriguez had not shown up for work over the past few days.
On Monday, officers went to the address listed for the suspect but arrived to find no one there. They did reach Rodriguez by phone, however, and he said he was near a hardware store on Bluff Street and could meet detectives there. As soon as police arrived, they recognized Rodriguez as the man seen in the surveillance images provided by the grocery outlet, as well as his driver’s license photo.
The suspect confirmed he had worked for the post office in Washington City as a janitor – and had for the past five years – until he was fired from his job a few days prior.
The suspect also told officers that he took the gift card that was enclosed in an envelope he found on the ground while cleaning the building and said “his family was experiencing hard times and they needed the money.”
The suspect also said the woman in the surveillance photos was his wife who had used the card to purchase groceries and other items at the store.
Garcia told officers that at the time of the incident, she was at the post office helping her husband clean when she saw an envelope on the ground that contained a letter and the gift card, adding she had shown her husband the card but told officers it was she who took the card and used it.
She, like her husband, told officers that her family was going through hard times and she thought “the card was a gift from God.”
When officers returned to question the husband further, Rodriguez admitted to officers it was his wife who found the card and took it, and said he was “trying to help cover for her.
Rodriguez was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing a third-degree felony criminal conspiracy charge, since police say Rodriquez assisted his wife in unlawfully acquiring and then using the card. Bail was set at $5,000.
Officers determined that the envelope and gift card were placed in a locked mailbox before being picked up by a post office employee and taken to the post office for sorting. From there, the parcel was to proceed to Illinois where it was to be delivered to the caller’s mother.
Garcia was transported to jail facing one count each of theft of mail and unlawful acquisition of a financial card, each a third-degree felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of the same acquisition charge.
On Tuesday, when the case was sent over to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review, Rodriguez was formally charged with one count each of theft of mail and unlawful acquisition of a financial card, each a third-degree felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of the same acquisition charge, while the conspiracy charge was never filed.
Rodriquez remained in custody and made an initial appearance later that same day, and he was released from jail after posting a bond on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to court for a hearing next week.
Rodriquez remained in custody on $5,000 bail until he posted a bond the following day and was released.
Garcia was formally charged with the offenses also on Tuesday, and she was released from jail on a promise to appear. An initial appearance has been scheduled for December.
A request by St. George News for comment sent via email to the U.S. Postal Service’s public information officer and the Westpac Area communications director has gone unanswered.
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