N.Y. Criminals Take a Wrong Turn in Clinton

Two out-of-towners who thought they could outrun the local police found out pretty quickly that they had taken a wrong turn down a dead-end street.

Jemaly Thelusma, 21, and Stanley Pierre-Paul, 25, both of the St. Albans area of Queens, New York, found the end of the road in Clinton last week when they tried to lose Sgt. Joseph Flynn down College Street.

According to Flynn, he spotted Thelusma, the driver, Pierre-Paul, and a woman passenger in a black Lexus driving "erratically" on East Main Street.

"Thelusma was passing in a no-passing zone, tailgating, and speeding," said Flynn.

After the vehicle was pulled over by the Clinton police, a call came in to the police radio noting the subjects' description and the make and model of the car. According to Flynn, the two had allegedly been involved in a suspicious credit card transaction at the Clinton Super Stop & Shop.

According to police, Pierre-Paul had successfully purchased $600 worth of gift cards from the store. It was upon his attempted second purchase of another similar transaction when the credit card he was using was declined. When the management of the store tried to question Pierre-Paul, he ran from the store into the waiting Lexus driven by Thelusma.

"Management watched as the vehicle drove at a high rate of speed around the lot looking for an exit and finally drove over the curb and across the grass onto Route 1," stated Flynn in his report.

Clinton Chief of Police Joseph Faughnan said it is becoming more common among criminals to use manufactured credit cards that appear as legitimate MasterCard or Visa cards, but have stolen information from another person's credit card embedded in the magnetic strip.

"It is really money laundering," said Flynn, who added that very few store clerks check to see if the name on the front of the card matches the information on the magnetic strip.

The names on the credit cards used by Pierre-Paul did match identifications he used, said police.

"The criminals are relying on a busy clerk not to notice," said Flynn. "By the time the victim of the identity theft realizes their information was stolen, it is sometimes too late."

Upon further investigation, Flynn determined that Pierre-Paul and Thelusma had used fake credit cards to purchase $4,000 in gift cards from pharmacies in Westbrook and Clinton.

"They had 18 gift cards in their possession," said Flynn.

Police say they were charged with larceny, illegal use of a credit card, unlawful reproduction of a credit card, receipt of money and goods by illegal credit card, and conspiracy to commit larceny. Thelusma was charged with reckless driving. The woman passenger in the car was not charged, said Flynn.

There was no listing for a phone number for either man at his Queens address.

According to a clerk in the Middletown Superior Court's office, both men appeared in court

June 23. The driver, Thelusma, has a second court date July 8. He was released on a promise to appear. Pierre-Paul was released on a bond. His next court date is also July 8.