Suspected Identity Theft, Fraud Involved in Two Arrests

A Newark woman was arrested following random traffic stop on Wednesday that led to the discovery of an unauthorized credit card scanner and re-encoder device in her possession, according to the Parsippany Police Department. Another woman was also arrested in the incident.

Officer Paul Levi conducted a random traffic stop to check the registration of a 1997 Chevy Lumina. In the course of the stop, the officer found outstanding warrants against the driver and her passenger, police said.

Lashonda A. Chandler, 25, who owns the car, had an active warrant out of Mercer County for fraud and theft by deception, Sgt. Yvonne Christiano said.

In addition to the offenses related to the outstanding warrant, Chandler was discovered to have a credit card scanner/re-encoder device with her in the car, police said.

Possession of such a machine—often used in cases of fraud and identity theft—is a fourth-degree crime in New Jersey. Bail was set at $2,500. Chandler was remanded to the Morris County Correctional Facility in default of bail. 

Nadirah Johnson, 23, a passenger in the back seat of Chandler's car, was found to have two active Newark warrants against her on charges of possession of controlled dangerous substances and evading fare, police said.

Police said after she was detained, Johnson provided authorities with two false birthdates, a false name and four false social security numbers, earning her another charge for obstruction. Johnson was released after paying $2,500 bail.