Take the money and run -- into police

Take the money and run -- into police

Ben Franklin times 75 equals a lot of green

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By KVAL.com staff

ALBANY, Ore. -- The three women flew in from California on Monday, then set off south through the Willamette Valley.

On Wednesday morning, one of the travelers got a $7,500 cash advance on a credit card at a Junction City, Ore., bank.

Wednesday afternoon, she tried to withdraw another $7,500 from a bank in Albany, Ore.

Now police say the trio aren't poster children for Oregon tourism but rather identity thieves who used fake ID to obtain credit cards and cash. One of the women is wanted on the East Coast for illegal use of a credit card.

Police in Albany say Ashley Crayton, 22, tried to get a $7,500 cash advance on a credit car at a Wells Fargo bank using a credit card and Massachusetts ID card.

An employee contacted police, who detained Crayton as she left the bank around 4 p.m. Wednesday. Officers found Devona Franklin in a vehicle parked outside the bank.

Officers recovered $7,500 in cash believed to have been obtained by Crayton at a Wells Fargo bank in Junction City earlier in the day using the same credit card and ID.

Albany police detectives, assisted by members of the Corvallis Police Department and Benton County Sheriff's Department, later executed a search warrant on two hotel rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 2500 SW Western Boulevard in Corvallis, Ore.

The rooms had been rented by Crayton, Franklin and a Vivian Wang of California using a fraudulent name, police said.

Wang was taken into custody in Corvallis by area law enforcement and charged with identity theft.

Crayton was lodged in the Linn County Jail on the following charges:

  • Identity Theft (2 counts)
  • Forgery in the First Degree (2 counts)
  • Attempted Theft in the First Degree
  • Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument
  • Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card
  • Giving False Information
  • A West Virginia Warrant charging Illegal Use of a Credit Card

Franklin was lodged in the Linn County Jail on the following charges:

  • Forgery in the First Degree (2 counts)
  • Identity Theft (2 counts)
  • Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card
  • Attempted Theft in the First Degree

Police believe Crayton, Franklin and Wang flew into Portland from San Francisco, Calif., on Monday evening. Albany police are following up on indications that there may have been at least one additional fraudulent transaction at a bank located between Portland and Corvallis

This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding Ashley Crayton and Devona Franklin is asked to call Albany Police Detectives at 541-917-7686.

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