Police search for credit card thieves

Paul Clinton

BALBOA PENINSULA -- Detectives are searching for two men who tried to

use a stolen credit card at a Newport Beach convenience store.

The men entered the 7-Eleven convenience store at 1920 W. Balboa Blvd.

at 11:24 p.m. Jan. 23. Using a MasterCard to buy several items, the men

waited as the clerk checked the card through the store’s scanner.

When the clerk informed the men that the card was declined, they fled

the store with 15 lottery tickets. They left the card behind.

Both men are described as white men in their early 20s with short

hair. They are about 6 feet tall and weigh about 150 pounds. Both were

wearing dark jackets and pants during the robbery. One man was wearing a

baseball cap; the other had a goatee.

The men are visible in several video images captured by the store’s

surveillance camera. Though it took police several weeks to get the

images, they are circulating the grainy black and white stills to help

find the men, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman.

Police have traced the credit card to a Jan. 23 burglary at a Laguna

Hills home. That burglary occurred at 8:30 p.m.

The incident is not the only one recently in Newport Beach to involve

stolen credit cards.

For more than six months, a woman has been suspected of pilfering

unattended purses and wallets, mostly in local bars and restaurants.

More than once, the woman -- who was caught on surveillance cameras --

tried to use other people’s credit cards.

Anyone with information about either incident is asked to call the

Newport Beach Police Department at (800) 550-6273.