Charlottesville police say Kroger card was theft suspect’s undoing

Police who were tracking down a woman suspected of credit card theft found that her use of her Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card really helped tie the case in a neat bundle, a Charlottesville detective said.

Fannie Ophelia Henson, 46, was arrested on Saturday and charged with credit card theft, a felony.

After a man lost his wallet, someone used the cards to make just less than $400 in purchases from a gas station and the Kroger store at 1159 Emmet St., Detective Edward Prachar said. According to search warrant affidavit that Prachar submitted, the purchases were made on July 31. Using surveillance videos and “having had experience with her in the past,” Prachar focused on Henson as a suspect, he said.

Surveillance video showed the person using the stolen card also was using a Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card, Prachar said. Prachar checked Kroger’s records and found out that Henderson had used her own card.

“I guess trying to use her discount card kind of helped cement the case,” Prachar said.  “She may have absentmindedly just scanned her card, from what I can tell on the video.”