3 Clerks Suspected of Credit-Card Fraud

Three Moorpark gas station clerks have been arrested on suspicion of stealing credit cards from customers.

Ventura County sheriff’s investigators said Tuesday the three boys were arrested on suspicion of credit-card fraud after allegedly purchasing $450 in electronic goods from a local department store.

Deputies arrested two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old. All three worked at a Chevron gas station in Moorpark. The electronic goods were recovered in one boy’s car and at his house, authorities said.

Investigators said they also found a small pipe bomb and illegal fireworks at the residence, but no charges have been filed on that discovery. The explosives were recovered safely by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad, authorities said.

The suspects are accused of distracting gas station customers who paid with their credit cards, causing the customers to leave the cards behind, officials said.

One victim’s card was stolen Sunday, and the electronic goods were purchased Monday at a Kmart department store, authorities said. Two of the boys are suspected of pulling the same scheme on other gas station customers, authorities said.