Police looking for skimmer thief
Device at Norton Circle K may have bilked more than a dozen
Eddy Pimentel-Vila
Police say security footage of a Target store in Streetsboro shows Eddy Pimentel-Vila leaving after using stolen debit card information. Photo courtesy of the NORTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
Police say this skimmer was found in a gas pump removed from the Norton Center Circle K station. Photo courtesy of NORTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
NORTON – Police throughout northeast Ohio are looking for a New Jersey man accused of stealing more than $1,000 from customers who paid at a Norton gas pump.
Police say Eddy Pimentel-Vila, 45, installed a skimming device in a pump at the Circle K in Norton Center, causing eight customers in Norton, Barberton and Tallmadge to see their bank accounts depleted.
According to Detective Ryan Connell, Norton’s first report of credit card fraud/identity theft came March 27 and was followed by others. The matter hit a crescendo April 9 as four came in. All of the people suddenly noticed their debit card information was being used to make purchases at various stores in the region and they weren’t making them.
“We did some investigating and discovered that for every one of them their last transaction before the fraud was at this Circle K,” Connell said.
Connell and Sgt. Larry Lane went to the Circle K and found that the pumps had just been replaced.
“We talked to the agency that serviced and inspected the pumps and asked them to check the ones they’d just removed,” Connell said. “Sure enough, they found a skimmer in one.”
Connell said the victims had no way they could have known the skimmer was there. To install it, the thief opened the face of the pump and plugged the device into the card reader, closing and relocking the face.
Police sent the skimmer to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to extract the data.
While the skimmer was at the lab, officers went to the stores where the fraudulent transactions were made and were able to identify Pimentel-Vila as their suspect.
“He has quite a criminal history in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now Ohio,” Connell said.
The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Pimentel-Vila and he has a warrant against him for his arrest. Police are also looking for two other people they have yet to identify but believe are accomplices.
A further dozen Wadsworth residents suffered similar losses, but police had not been able by this reporting to determine if their cases are connected.
Anyone with information on where Pimentel-Vila or his accomplices may be is asked to contact the Norton Police at 330-706-0084.
There was nothing the victims could have done to avoid this skimmer short of not paying at the pump. Consumers can minimize their losses, though, by keeping a close eye on their accounts and reporting suspicious activity immediately. Victims of such fraud are not liable for the expenses and banks will replace the stolen money quickly when informed.
Police say Eddy Pimentel-Vila, 45, installed a skimming device in a pump at the Circle K in Norton Center, causing eight customers in Norton, Barberton and Tallmadge to see their bank accounts depleted.
According to Detective Ryan Connell, Norton’s first report of credit card fraud/identity theft came March 27 and was followed by others. The matter hit a crescendo April 9 as four came in. All of the people suddenly noticed their debit card information was being used to make purchases at various stores in the region and they weren’t making them.
“We did some investigating and discovered that for every one of them their last transaction before the fraud was at this Circle K,” Connell said.
Connell and Sgt. Larry Lane went to the Circle K and found that the pumps had just been replaced.
“We talked to the agency that serviced and inspected the pumps and asked them to check the ones they’d just removed,” Connell said. “Sure enough, they found a skimmer in one.”
Connell said the victims had no way they could have known the skimmer was there. To install it, the thief opened the face of the pump and plugged the device into the card reader, closing and relocking the face.
Police sent the skimmer to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to extract the data.
While the skimmer was at the lab, officers went to the stores where the fraudulent transactions were made and were able to identify Pimentel-Vila as their suspect.
“He has quite a criminal history in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now Ohio,” Connell said.
The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Pimentel-Vila and he has a warrant against him for his arrest. Police are also looking for two other people they have yet to identify but believe are accomplices.
A further dozen Wadsworth residents suffered similar losses, but police had not been able by this reporting to determine if their cases are connected.
Anyone with information on where Pimentel-Vila or his accomplices may be is asked to contact the Norton Police at 330-706-0084.
There was nothing the victims could have done to avoid this skimmer short of not paying at the pump. Consumers can minimize their losses, though, by keeping a close eye on their accounts and reporting suspicious activity immediately. Victims of such fraud are not liable for the expenses and banks will replace the stolen money quickly when informed.
