Police Dress Like Pizza Delivery Men To Bust Credit Card Forger

William Peppers of Chicago got more than he ordered from an Edwardo's pizza delivery man on January 8.

The 31-year-old Peppers got his pizza, wings, a soda -- and an arrest for felony forgery.

The pizza chain got suspicious when Peppers, using the name "John" with "a Polish-sounding last name," gave two credit card numbers and expiration dates that were declined. They also recognized the address as one that had been used in the past for fraudulent transactions, TribLocal reports.

So they contacted Skokie police officers, who put on vests with the Edwardo's logo, and slapped a sticker for the chain on an unmarked police car.

They headed to the Computer Systems Institute in Skokie, where the pizza was ordered. No one by the name of John Something-Polish was on the premises.

But Peppers flagged the disguised officer down. He signed a receipt for the pizza, with the information of the third credit card he'd tried.

That card belonged to a woman who cancelled it days earlier because of fraudulent activity.

Once he signed the receipt, Peppers was arrested by his delivery man. He'll appear in court on January 18, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Comments

[marinemomof3]

08:14 PM on 01/14/2011

I hate getting arrested when I order my pizza n wings !

[Wonder Woman2]

11:36 AM on 01/14/2011

This is good!

[AnnArky]

10:58 AM on 01/14/2011

could I get that to-go?

[martiniandabotoxchaser]

10:37 AM on 01/14/2011

I went to a Papa John's last year.  They were featuring a buy one get one free pizza with topping of the number of touchdowns if our team won (which it did).  It was the first time I went to a Papa John's.  The pizza was terrible and they stole my credit card number (which was used to buy gasoline and all sorts of stuff).

[landonswan]

11:21 AM on 01/14/2011

How do you know they stole it?

[martiniandabotoxchaser]

09:32 PM on 01/14/2011

All the other places on the statement were places we go to often with staff we know....it was the only new establishment at the time of the theft.

[martiniandabotoxchaser]

09:37 PM on 01/14/2011

Also I had few charges on the card at the time and the theft was all local, in close proximity of the restaurant, and within a day of the charge...there were no other charges on that card within a day or so before the fraudulent charges showed up except that of Papa John.

[Vanessa Belle]

03:14 PM on 01/14/2011

Wow.

Things like this can and do happen.

My father, brother and I were out for dinner the other night and my dad was mentioning that we should never allow staff at a restaurant to walk away with our credit card. Out of sight these things can happen.

[JaredR]

10:16 AM on 01/14/2011

I love it!

[right time right now]

10:10 AM on 01/14/2011

This poor person is a victim of this economy.. the New Normal. Didn't they make a Novel and a musical about this type of theft? This man probably voted for Mr. Obama and now is feeling the pain. So sad.

God Bless

[cyoohoos]

10:30 AM on 01/14/2011

IT'S OBAMA'S FAULT.

Look, look... another tr0)) managed to blame Obama for this too!

[right time right now]

06:14 PM on 01/14/2011

Hi cyoohoos. Mr. Obama created the NEW NORMAL, not me. I resently installed new Dead Bolt Locks, Security Cameras and have purchased several shot guns to protect my goods. I suggest you do the same... things are going to get worse.

God Bless.. and Lock and Load.

[dtmfman]

10:54 AM on 01/14/2011

@ wrong time not now

http://www.femuscle.org/CoolStuff/trollspray.jpg

[HelloWerld]

10:07 AM on 01/14/2011

Wow cops doing their jobs. AMAZING.

[WhatDaBleep]

10:31 AM on 01/14/2011

And Skokie police too. That's a big WOW!

[kevinbr38]

10:02 AM on 01/14/2011

You know you are one tired criminal when you get busted for using bad credit cards to order pizza, chicken wings, and soda. Damn dude it don't get much lamer.

[Planet Caravan]

09:33 AM on 01/14/2011

Now he will receive sausage deliveries in the county lock-up.

[studmoose]

11:21 AM on 01/14/2011

LOL

[BrianJackson]

09:31 AM on 01/14/2011

I worked as a delivery guy for about 3 years. One of our drivers went to a home, that appeared abandoned. After ringing the doorbell and not getting an answer, the driver walked around the corner to see if anyone was out back. When he got back to his car, his wallet as well as 2-3 other orders had been stolen.

Our manager told the police this address had ordered a few times in the past, usually without anyone being home. The next time they called, we notified the police, who instead of setting up a sting, laughed at the idea of posing as an undercover pizza guy.

The manager, once a D-1 college football defensive lineman decided to follow a female driver to the house and keep an eye out and I rode with him. The women didn't get an answer, looked around the side of the house and as she did this, a man came running from the next house over, opened her door and was going through her car. Our manager proceeded to tackle and put a massive beating on this guy before he got away. The thief was arrested while getting treatment at our local hospital later that night. They found he was linked to a few more cases and got some hard time. Glad to see the police in this story thinking outside the box, being creative, and getting their man.

[mdmccormick]

09:16 AM on 01/14/2011

A fine story one that shows our FBI and local police can and will protect the card holders and the banks that supply them. When will the FBI go undercover in the Banks where the real money is being stolen?

[rabiddog6708]

09:00 AM on 01/14/2011

Pizza delivered and man booked in 30 minutes or less?

[Tristman]

08:55 AM on 01/14/2011

nice....I bet he didn't get to enjoy that pizza.

[itolduso]

03:22 PM on 01/14/2011

I bet the cops did!

[houston we have aproblem]

08:51 AM on 01/14/2011

sure he want REALLY polish?

[studmoose]

11:22 AM on 01/14/2011

He'll be enjoying kielbasa 24x7.

[getoffmyside]

08:51 AM on 01/14/2011

A couple of years ago we had a rash of compromised credit cards where I live. No one had physically lost their cards. The rumor that circulated was that a few business' had unsecured wireless data transmission. Activity on the numbers was found to have occured largely in a Florida county via pay at the pump fuel transactions. The authorities there were already overwhelmed with their own issues and would not pursue the matter.

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

10:15 AM on 01/14/2011

The local cops recently found a "black box" inside a pay-at-the-pump in Grand Junction that was apparently recording credit card / debit card #'s and PINs. I'm surprised it didn't make national news.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/gas-station-card-skimmers-1282.php

[getoffmyside]

10:36 AM on 01/14/2011

Thanks for the story.