Police: DUI stop leads to arrest

A DUI stop on Monday led to the arrest of a man suspected of identity theft for reencoding bank cards, police said.

At around 1:45 p.m., police spotted a BMW on Maple Street without a front license plate that screeched as it came to an abrupt halt at a stop sign, Lightfoot said.

During the traffic stop, the driver, Khachatur Zakaryan, 33, allegedly had slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol, she said.

Officers then observed several blank access cards on the front passenger seat. They were gold cards that were blank on both sides except for a magnetic strip, Lightfoot said.

They also found a black wallet with several other cards, some with Zakaryan’s name on them, that were later determined to have been reencoded with different account numbers, according to police. Some of the cards had four digit-personal identification numbers on them, Lightfoot said.

In total, there were six blank cards, three bank cards with Zakaryan’s name allegedly on them, three American Express gift cards and two Green Dot Bank debit cards with four-digit numbers on them, she said.

Zakaryan was arrested on suspicion of fraud as well as allegedly driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, Lightfoot said.

He has since been released on $50,000 bail.
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Follow Arin Mikailian on Twitter: @ArinMikailian.

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